Seventeen linked to casino cheating scam

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000 | 9:26 a.m.

Eight people were arrested Tuesday in a federal sting of alleged Asian mobsters the FBI says cheated 13 casinos in the United States and Canada out of $2 million.

Authorities were looking for nine more suspects, including 48-year-old Wai Sang Fung, who is thought to be the ringleader of the scam.

The organized crime enterprise was based in Asia and included residents from Nevada, California, Florida, New York, Canada and Venezuela.

An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas Oct. 17 alleges the ring cheated on baccarat, blackjack and other casino card games from November 1994 to February 1999. It also accuses the suspects of conspiring to launder more than $2 million from casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, N.J., and Ontario, Canada.

Arrested Tuesday were: La Chau Ng, 40, and Kwong On Wong, 41, both in Las Vegas. Jing Bing Liang, 35, was arrested in Davenport, Iowa. Tin Sung Lam, 73, was arrested in San Francisco and Julie Wong, 40, was arrested in Los Angeles.

In New York, authorities arrested Ing Ting Chan, 33, Jun Huai Ma, 26, and Xiu Lan Zhou, 36.

Nine more suspects remain fugitives, including Fung, who is thought to be living in Oakland, Calif.