In Macau, local police have reportedly arrested a dealer from the Wynn Macau integrated casino resort along with an accomplice over allegations that the pair illegally made off with gambling chips worth approximately $6 million.
According to a Friday report from CNNMoney, the theft by the unidentified duo took place at the giant property operated by the Wynn Macau Limited subsidiary of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Limited on January 16. Authorities have purportedly yet to locate the missing chips despite announcing that they have no additional suspects in the case.
Although police are reportedly unsure as to how the heist was carried out, CNNMoney cited speculation from multiple local media outlets that the pair may have simply placed the lucrative chips into a bag before absconding. It is purportedly assumed that the offenders would have later relied on associates to return to the casino in order to exchange the chips for cash.
Vitaly Umansky, an analyst from brokerage firm Sanford C Bernstein Limited, reportedly told CNNMoney that the incident could eventually lead authorities to ask Wynn Macau Limited, which is moreover responsible for the nearby 1,706-room Wynn Palace Cotai property, to tighten up security inside both of its local casinos.
“The junkets get a lot of leeway inside the rooms in terms of how money changes hands and how chips change hands,” Umansky reportedly told CNNMoney. “That’s something that may need to get evaluated.”
CNNMoney reported that this is not the first time that criminals have targeted Wynn Macau Limited, as an incident in 2015 saw an unnamed junket operator claim that it had been scammed out of around $34 million while doing business inside the 1,000-room Wynn Macau.