Police Arrest Two For Allegedly Using Fake Poker Chips At Maryland CasinoAuthorities Say One Suspect Bought $150K Worth Of Phony Chips Online |
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Another case of counterfeit poker chips has come to light, this time in Maryland.
State police said Tuesday that they have arrested two individuals and are looking for two others for allegedly passing fake $100 chips in poker games last month.
The alleged crimes took place at Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover. The casino opened its 52-table poker room in August of last year, not long after the state authorized table games.
Rosa A. Nguyen was charged with one count of theft between $1,000 and $10,000, and two counts of “conspiracy to commit theft” between $1,000 and $10,000. Her husband, Vuong Q. Truong, was accused of “committing a theft scheme” and “conspiracy to commit theft.”
Police said that they learned many of the counterfeit chips had been discarded by one of the suspects in Lake Accotink, in Springfield, Virginia. The chips floated.
Investigators said that they were able to recover about $115,000 worth of the alleged counterfeit casino chips from the lake, which was close to the home of the suspects.
Nguyen allegedly bought $150,000 worth of counterfeit casino chips via the Internet for $12,000. The chips were then altered to appear similar to Maryland Live! Casino chips.
This case comes just weeks after a counterfeit chip scandal in New Jersey. A massive $2 million guarantee poker tournament at Borgata was canceled after it was discovered that one of the entrants inserted hundreds of thousands worth of phony chips into the event.
While counterfeiting casino chips is a serious crime according to the books in states where casinos are operating, punishment — or at least the seeking of it — is not applied evenly.
In October 2013, counterfeit poker chips were allegedly passed at a casino in Iowa by a nuclear weapons commander. The state elected not to prosecute, citing “lack of criminal history as well as his career in the military.” The U.S. military official ended up being demoted.
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