A Singaporean man, Yew Choy Wong, has been ordered by the Queensland Supreme Court to repay over 38 million Australian dollars (about $25.7 million) after a significant gambling loss at an Australian casino. The court’s decision, announced Monday, also includes repayment of the casino’s legal fees and interest.
Wong accumulated losses totaling 47.3 million Australian dollars (around $31.5 million) at the Star Gold Coast casino between July 26 and August 2, 2018. After running up these debts, Wong left Australia without settling his bill. The casino attempted to recover the debt using a blank check Wong had previously provided to its sister property, the Star Sydney, but the check was returned unpaid after Wong instructed his bank not to honor it.
The casino’s efforts to recover the money through legal action in Singapore were unsuccessful, as Singaporean law generally does not enforce gambling debts. Wong, who had frequently played baccarat at the Star’s casinos, was accompanied by a group of 28 people during his visits and was given luxury accommodations.
In his defense, Wong claimed he did not owe the money because he had raised complaints about how the casino’s dealers dealt cards. He alleged that Star’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Arbuckle, had verbally agreed to waive his existing debts if the casino corrected the alleged mistakes. Arbuckle denied making such an agreement.
The casino had previously issued Wong goodwill payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in response to his complaints. The court found no evidence supporting Wong’s claim of an agreement to forgive his debt. Justice Melanie Hindman noted that the apology letter from Arbuckle did not reference any waiver of Wong’s debts and stated that Wong's alleged agreement was not substantiated by the evidence presented.
Star Entertainment, which owns the Star Gold Coast, has declined to comment further on the case.
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