A 67-year-old man was told to forfeit his winnings at Resorts World Sentosa’s (RWS) casino after finding out his exclusion order from the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) had taken effect.
Retired cabby Mr Teo Thiam Kee told The New Paper (TNP) that he knew his son had applied for an exclusion order but was not told when the order would take effect so he continued going to the casino to gamble.
He said, “I’d won about S$200 but they made me cough up the money before I was allowed to leave. This is unfair. They allowed me to enter but took away my winnings.”
According to the same paper, Mr Teo and his family appeared before the committee of assessors at the Family Link@Lengkok Bahru on Sept 8. The committee hears cases before deciding whether to grant the exclusion order.
He then went to RWS after the session ended and continued to do so over the next few days as he was told that it would take some time for the order to be granted. However, he was stopped on Sept 11 after he scanned his identity card to exit the casino.
Mr Teo returned his S$200 winnings and told TNP, “I didn’t know I had to forfeit my winnings. If I knew, I wouldn’t have gone there.”
RWS spokesman, Ms Lee Sin Yee, said the exclusion order for Mr Teo showed up in the system at the time of his exit and not when he entered.
Mr Teo claimed that the letter from NCPG informing him that the exclusion order had been granted was dated Sept 9 and delivered by hand after he returned home that same day.
It was also reported that the notification of the exclusion order is sent by courier to the respondent and once it is issued, the exclusion order will be deemed effective, regardless of whether the respondent has received it.
According to the Casino Control Act, an excluded person or those below the age of 21 must forfeit their winnings if they are caught in the casinos here. The forfeited money goes into the Government Consolidated Fund.
? + $100 entrance fee.... = Free entertainment... 