SINGAPORE - Seeking to pay off his debts to unlicensed moneylenders, a dealer working for Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) Casino misappropriated casino chips worth more than $100,000 in total between June and July last year.

Yeoh Zhong Cheng, 25, then roped in others, including his younger brother, to help him cash out the chips.

The Malaysian was jailed for 20 months and 22 weeks on Monday (July 6) after pleading guilty to one charge relating to criminal breach of trust.

He also admitted abetting two other individuals to convert the stolen casino chips worth over $65,000 in total into cash.

Two other charges - each related to abetting a different individual to cash out chips - were taken into consideration during sentencing by District Judge Kan Shuk Weng.

According to court documents, Yeoh was employed by RWS Casino as a dealer in July 2017. It is not stated if he is still working with RWS Casino.

The court heard that he decided to steal casino chips to pay off his debts, which amounted to $80,000 to $90,000, to unlicensed moneylenders in Singapore and Malaysia.

Yeoh would take casino chips with a value of $1,000 off a "float" - a covered tray attached to a casino table where chips were placed in - and slip them into his shirt.

During his break, he would go to his locker and hide the stolen chips.

He became bolder over time and stole more chips.

Court documents said that as an employee of RWS Casino, Yeoh was not allowed to cash out casino chips.

So he got other individuals, including his friend Ooi Shi Chao and younger brother Yeoh Zhong Jie, to do so for the chips he had taken.

The court heard that Mr Ooi and Yeoh met on eight occasions in June last year, where Mr Ooi received casino chips worth $30,600 in total from the dealer.

Yeoh also passed chips worth $35,100 in total to his younger brother during nine meetings in July last year.

It is not stated if Mr Ooi and the younger Yeoh are facing charges or have been dealt with for their involvement.

According to court documents, the dealer took at least 124 chips, worth a total of $124,000, on 28 occasions between June and July last year.

His offences came to light after he was caught on the casino's surveillance footage taking three chips from the "float" at the baccarat table on July 12 last year.

He was detained and subsequently arrested.

Only three chips, worth $1,000 each, have been recovered from Yeoh to date.

For dishonestly misappropriating casino chips, he could have been jailed for up to 15 years and fined.

He could also have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000 for each charge of abetting another individual to convert the chips into cash.