Illegal Baccarat Tables Found In Singapore Consulate

On November 3rd of 2006, police raided the five story building of the Senegal Consulate in Singapore.

The raiding team found baccarat tables in three meeting rooms while a fourth room was made into a bedroom.

The police authorities charged twenty three people in relation to illegal gambling at the consulate. All twenty three charged posted bail on November 10th, 2006.

Five of the twenty three people that were charged in assisting and managing the consulate's premises as gambling house each posted bail of twenty thousand Singaporean dollars or nineteen thousand six hundred in US dollars.

The five that posted bail includes logistic officer, Leong Choon Kwai, Lee Swee Keong, Johnson Lim Boon Wah, Ang Poon Beng and retired businessman, Tan Kim Sing.

All are expected to return to court on December 8, 2006.

According to the police investigation, the consulate was doubling as an illegal casino in the evening, with a full house of one hundred gambling players every night. Reportedly there were minimum bets of one hundred Singaporean dollars or sixty four US dollars up to thirty thousand Singaporean dollars.

Another three men and fifteen women, mostly from Indonesia, were also released on ten thousand Singaporean dollars bail bond after they indicated their willingness to plead guilty for their part in the casino as dice tossers and card dealers.

The honorary consul Benny Kusni is out on bail of ten thousand Singaporean dollars.

Kusni insisted that he doesn't know anything about gambling that happens during the night. According to Kusni, he strictly handles only visa matters at the consulate.

If found guilty, all of the twenty three face fines from five thousand Singaporean dollars up to fifty thousand dollars and/or imprisonment of up to three years.

Thursday, November 16, 2006
Danny McCain