The Star Casino in Sydney confessed in the New South Wales Supreme Court that it had accidentally shredded the cheques deposited by the Macau-based player Wai Chong Wong. As reported by The Daily Mail, the admittance was made by the casino after rumours have emerged that two cheques which total value amounted to AU$7 million were lost or destroyed.
The multi-million-dollar cheques were lodged by the high-roller as a security. Sydney’s Star Casino was provided with two cheques, the first one for AU$5 million and the second one for AU$2 million, back in October 2016 by Mr. Wong who wanted to draw chips amounting to AU$7 million from the casino.
The casino is not allowed to directly provide credit to people who financially support it under the provisions of the 1992 Casino Control Act. However, Australian casinos are allowed to established special deposit accounts for such benefactors, with the latter being given the chance to credit that account with cheques or cash in order to draw chips for the equivalent amount from the casino.
Such a deposit account was created for Mr. Wong with The Star Casino on October 24th, 2016. At the time, a cheque issued from the Hong Kong’s Standard Chartered Bank and amounting to AU$5 million was deposited by him. On the next day, Mr. Wong deposited another cheque, which this time amounted to AU$2 million, boosting his chip drawing value to AU$7 million.
Wong Has to Provide Replacement, Says Judge
At the New South Wales Supreme Court hearing it became clear that The Star Casino used to keep such cheques in the patron’s file pending account settlements. Under these settlements, the benefactor is supposed to either claim their winnings for withdrawal, or provide funds which will cover the generated losses. In this particular case, almost the entire amount of AU$7 million was lost by Mr. Wong.
Under the settlement rules, if The Star Casino is owed some money, the patron of the account is required to provide a personal cheque to cover the lost amount, and the cheque they originally lodged is either returned to them, or destroyed. In case that the player is not present at the settlement, the original cheque they presented is kept in a safe deposit box until the player pays out the amount they owe.
At the time when the settlement was carried out, Mr. Wong had a debt of AU$6,139,534.98 to The Star Group. The high-roller was not present on settlement, and his debt was not paid out. The problem is that the casino shredded both his original cheques, despite the fact that Wong did not provide the funds necessary to cover the debt.
The New South Wales Supreme Court heard that an employee who does not work at The Star Casino any more must have accidentally destroyed the two cheques, thinking that Mr. Wong had already provided the funds necessary to cover his losses.
The player received two notices in August 2017, asking him to provide replacement for the two cheques in a fortnight. Mr. Wong, however did not respond to the request. Now, he is to be forced to provide The Star with replacement cheques within 14 days under Justice Monika Schmidt order.
- Author
Olivia Cole
