Six Malaysians jailed for S$4.9m heist targeting Singapore high-stakes poker game

Six Malaysians have been sentenced for their roles in a major heist targeting a high-stakes poker game in Singapore in 2024, according to The Straits Times. The robbery, which took place at a bungalow in King Albert Park, involved armed men who tied up 11 people during the game and stole approximately S$4.9 million. Five of the suspects, Wong Chi San, 35, Goh Boon Tong, 30, Mohd Hamidon Ahmed, 49, Kartik Palaniappan, 34, and Muhammad Tauffiq Ahmad Fauzi, 34, have each been sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment, ranging from 10½ to 12 years, and were also caned 24 times.

The seventh suspect, Muhammad Yusuf Kassim, 33, is still at large and is believed to be in Thailand. The robbery occurred in the early hours of April 18, 2024, after the two masterminds, Wong and Goh, learned about poker games at the house. They later recruited Hamidon, who brought four men to Singapore. The robbers entered the bungalow through an unlocked gate after 2am, armed with machetes and baseball bats.

They took cryptocurrency, cash, luxury watches, and money from a safe, and then fled Singapore using different checkpoints. Police have recovered only about S$1.69 million worth of cryptocurrency from the stolen amount, which is Singapore's highest-value heist since the 1970s when accounting for inflation.