A croupier at one of the nearly 450 live dealer games at Resorts World Sentosa will serve the next year and three weeks in a prison in Singapore after admitting to theft. 

Prosecutors in the Southeast Asian island city-state allege that Oumnakil Thanakorn, a 35-year-old migrant from Thailand employed at the casino since December 2022, devised a plan to embezzle tens of thousands of dollars from the integrated resort casino. 

Thanakorn recently admitted guilt to three charges, which include the gravest offenses of criminal breach of trust through dishonest misappropriation and criminal breach of trust as an employee. Thanakorn was confronting 25 years in prison along with penalties. Nonetheless, prosecutors pursued a reduced sentence of 12 to 14 months after Thanakorn consented to a guilty plea. 

Upon completing his sentence, Thanakorn is anticipated to be sent back to Thailand. 

Gambling Fraudster 

Singaporean authorities did not specify how Thanakorn's illegal operation was uncovered, but the indictment revealed details of how the table game dealer absconded with funds from the casino owned by Malaysia's Genting Group. 

Prosecutors stated that Thanakorn employed sleight of hand to frequently transfer gaming chips won by the house into his possession. Holding a sheet of paper in one hand, the dealer allegedly stuffed the gaming tokens into his trousers. 

He went to two female gamblers whose table game he was aiding to assist him in laundering the money by providing them the chips to cash out for a fee. An inquiry concluded that the hazardous operation was overlooked by the casino's extensive security monitoring from May to July 2024. 

Looking back, casino recordings allegedly show Thanakorn boldly carrying out the act on no fewer than 29 occasions. It is believed that the croupier took away at least S$55,000 (US$42,572) that rightfully belonged to Resorts World Sentosa. 

Thanakorn handled baccarat, roulette, and blackjack. The two women — Buengloy Ananyaporn and Techawattanasakul Warattharin — faced charges in the operation. Ananyaporn is reportedly recorded on video swapping S$32,500 worth of chips and Warattharin S$4,500. Their cases will subsequently be examined in court. 

While searching Thanakorn’s home in Singapore, police discovered the leftover Resorts World Sentosa chips. Thanakorn admitted that a significant portion of the unlawful earnings was transferred to Thailand to assist his family in settling debts. 

Prosecutors and Resorts World do not anticipate any restitution aside from the confiscated chips. 

Dealer Controversies 

The theft by a dealer at Resorts World Sentosa casino is the most recent criminal plot to affect a gaming floor in Singapore. 

Last autumn, Casino.org covered a story about a roulette dealer at Marina Bay Sands who colluded with a player to manipulate the odds to benefit the gambler and split the profits. Sands dealer Soh Xuan Rong and gambler Daniel Koh Tze Zhou received 28-week prison sentences for the theft of S$3,545 ($2,744). 

Soh admitted guilt for approaching Koh after observing him betting solely on the numbers 32, 15, and 19. Soh mentioned that he could rotate the wheel in a specific manner to increase the chances of those numbers landing. 

Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands dominate a duopoly in Singapore’s tightly regulated casino sector.