Man charged with trying to swindle Solaire out of $30M

A 37-year-old Singaporean man has been charged in the Philippines with trying to cheat a casino out of $30 million in gambling chips by using a fake telegraphic transfer, according to local media.

Dominic Sim, the chief executive of Singapore-based Bullion Investment Group, is believed to have got $8 million worth of gambling chips from Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila in February last year - $3 million of which the casino has since managed to recover, The Straits Times reported.

Sim, who was a junket operator and first partnered with the casino in 2013, a Solaire Resort  representative told The Straits Times, allegedly used a fraudulent transfer to trick the casino into giving him $30 million worth of chips.  

The casino issued him $8 million worth of chips at first. It has since retrieved $3 million worth after finding out that it never got the money Sim purportedly paid.

"We did not report the matter to the police immediately as he said he would return the money, and we wanted to give him a chance," the representative said. "We have terminated our partnership with Bullion."

The casino eventually made a police report, and Sim was arrested on April 21. He was charged on May 14. He is currently out on bail but is not allowed to leave the Philippines.

Latest Intelligence

Latest issue

PATA CEO sees slow recovery, but optimism for future

AGB Podcasts