Counterfeit gaming chips seem to be a bit of a problem this year when it comes to casino gambling in the United States. Just last month the Borgata Poker Open was affected when counterfeit chips were placed in tournament play and authorities connected Christian Lusardi with the case. Players have now filed a lawsuit for the incident during the tournament and now it seems that counterfeit chips have made their way into Maryland game play.
Maryland State Police are reporting that two people from Virginia have been arrested and two more are on the run in connection with a counterfeit chip case involving Maryland Live! Casino. Vuong Q. Truong and his wife Rosa A. Nguyen were arrested in connection with the use of fake gaming chips at the casino.
Nguyen has been charged with one count of theft for a monetary value of $1,000 to $10,000 as well as two counts of conspiracy to commit theft with the same set value. Truong faces four counts of committing a theft scheme and one count of conspiracy to commit theft.
This story begins around a month ago when investigators were brought in by Maryland Live! Casino to look into a case of counterfeit poker chips. Maryland Live! Officials reported that four suspects had passed $100 poker chips, all fake, into game play on two separate occasions.
The State Police worked with the State Coordination and Analysis Center, Virginia State Police and Homeland Security Investigations to determine who the suspects were. On the 19th of this month, search warrants were served for the home of Nguyen and Truong which resulted in their arrest.
Investigators were able to determine that Nguyen had allegedly purchased $150,000 in counterfeit chips online. This amount of fake chips cost only $12,000 and the chips were then changed to appear like the Maryland Live! Casino chips.
Police also found that many of the fake chips had been placed in Lake Accotink to try and hide the evidence, which is located close to the couple’s home. Police were able to find the chips because they floated to the surface and around $115,000 in counterfeit chips were found in the Lake.
Investigators are now trying to find two more people who are supposedly connected to the case. Two more suspects, who are believed to be a couple from North Virginia, got $1 chips from a casino in West Virginia and then changed the chips to look like Maryland Live! chips with a value of $100 each. The investigation is ongoing and more information should be released in the coming weeks as the case progresses.
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