Abbie Chadwick
Silitonga Andri Parulian, 27, was prevented from flying back to his home country, Indonesia, and sentenced to four months in prison for cashing casino tickets, which he found on the Marina Bay Sands casino floor. On March 26, the man admitted to finding eight casino tickets worth $17,900. Silitonga said that he intended to visit the resort’s Ruby Room and gamble. But after finding the casino vouchers, he decided to encash them and leave the country as fast as possible.
The casino vouchers could be used to play slots or encash them for their face value. An investigation found that the tickets, each worth $3k, fell from the folder of slot machine ambassador Tham Wan Nyit in front of the invitation-only Ruby Room. At that time, Silitonga was there and took the casino vouchers, and headed to Changi Airport in an attempt to fly back to Indonesia after he transferred a large part of the money to his bank account.
The casino notified the Singaporean Central Police Force that the casino cashier redeemed the vouchers to the wrong person. The police did not need a lot of time to locate Silitonga, who was already at Changi Airport. According to officials, the man called one of his friends, who helped him to transfer S$2,000 to his Indonesian bank account.
His friend told Silitonga he could use a remittance service to transfer the money. Silitonga went to the closeby Western Union location and transferred S$3,000 more to his bank account and S$2,000 to his girlfriend’s bank account. The next day, Silitonga sent another S$8,000 to his bank account and S$2,000 to his girlfriend.
The Casino Finds Out about the Missing Vouchers and Takes Actions against the Culprit
When Ms. Tham found out that the tickets were missing, she notified the police the next day. The CCTV footage revealed that Silitonga took the casino vouchers. At the airport, immigration officers prevented Silitonga from getting on the plane because his name appeared on a stop list for taking the slot tickets and encashing them.
Silitonga refused to return the money he had transferred to his Indonesian bank account and did not tell the police what happened with the remaining amount. During court proceedings, the culprit pleaded guilty to taking the casino vouchers and apologized to all people affected by his actions. District Judge Crystal Tan took into account Silitonga’s remorse and sentenced him to four months in prison.
The man got off with a light sentence, considering he could receive a jail sentence of up to two years, a fine, or both. Singaporean law states that everyone who finds money, which belongs to someone else, must return the amount to the owner or notify the police.