Jail for woman involved in rigged mahjong games

SINGAPORE – Almost every player invited to mahjong games organised by nine people lost money.

That was because the three players they were pitted against in each game were all in cahoots with one another.

The games, some of which were held at SAFRA Toa Payoh, were rigged and the mastermind had posed as women on dating apps to lure players.

The victims of the ruse lost more than $100,000.

On Oct 1, one of the conspirators, Olivia Chin Hui Zhen, 31, was sentenced to eight months’ jail and fined $3,000. She was the first person to be dealt with.

The cases against the other eight are pending.

They are: Marcus Ang Yi Sheng, 27; Jason Chin Yi Sheng, 32; Kristy Tan Siew Boon, 39; Leong Ying Liat, 43; Penelope Kek Yong Ru, 46; Chloe Low Zhiyi, 23; Belinda Chee Yan Lin, 25; and Li Yongyi Joaquin, 27.

Chin pleaded guilty to a total of five charges, four for conspiracy to cheat, and one for unlawful gambling.

Another 32 charges were taken into consideration.

The court heard that Ang, the mastermind, devised the scheme in April 2024. He would allegedly lure victims by creating fake dating app profiles, and invite potential dates to play mahjong.

Ang purportedly directed one of his female co-conspirators to pose as the woman on the dating app profile and host the game.

The games took place at various locations, including at SAFRA Toa Payoh.

During the games, Ang would allegedly get three other co-conspirators to assume fake names and specified relationships. He would ask some of them to pretend they did not know each other, in case the victim declined to play.

Ang also decided on the rules and rates used to calculate the winnings for each session, and appoint another group member to be a reserve player.

This player would observe the victim’s style of play and communicate this to the other three players to reduce the chances of the victim winning.

No-win situation

Each of the three players had a specific role.

The first player had to prevent the victim from winning. The second player’s job was to form a winning hand as quickly as possible, or help the third player by discarding tiles he or she needed.

The third player had to form the biggest hand possible, to maximise how much the victim had to pay.

According to Ang’s estimations, this allowed them to win 99 per cent of the time. The co-conspirators were to hand over their winnings to Ang after each game, and they would get between $300 and $500 per session.

In total, the group arranged 28 games involving at least 28 victims between April and June 2024, but only proceeded with 19 games.

Chin was assigned to host the games, act as a player, or pretend to cover the victim’s losses, to find out if the victim would be agreeable to pay the rest.

She took part in 10 of the 19 games, and earned between $100 and $400 per game.

One of the games took place on June 1, 2024, where Chin posed as Low’s friend.

At the end of the game, the victim was told he had to pay $26,000, which he refused.

Acting on Ang’s instructions, Chin pretended to offer to help the victim pay $3,000 in cash, and asked if he could pay the remaining sum.

Low and Ang even followed the victim home to obtain the money but they failed.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Gladys Lim and Lee Wen Kym sought a sentence of 9½ months and a fine of $3,000 for Chin.

Chin’s lawyers, Johannes Hadi and Seraphine Loh from Eugene Thuraisingam Asia, sought four months’ jail and a fine of $1,000.

The lawyers argued that Chin had the lowest culpability, given that she joined the group late, and did not allow Ang to use her photos in the online dating profiles.

Chin had also made full restitution for the games she was involved in.

But Lim said Chin was not only a player, but acted as a host in several games, and pressured the victims to pay up by offering partial payment for them.

District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said Chin was not a passive participant, and her culpability was reflected in the number of charges she faced.

Hadi asked for Chin’s jail term to be deferred by four weeks to settle her affairs.

The judge granted the request.

For conspiracy to cheat, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

For unlawful gambling, an offender can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to $10,000, or both.