SINGAPORE: The mastermind of a conspiracy to cheat victims in rigged mahjong games was sentenced to two years’ jail and a fine of S$15,000 on Thursday (Nov 5).
Marcus Ang Yi Sheng, 27, had also carried one of his alleged accomplices to the balcony of her condominium unit on the eighth floor, and threatened to throw her down.
He will have to spend an additional five weeks behind bars should he fail to pay the fine.
Ang worked with eight other people to rig the games, and he estimated they earned around $100,000 in total.
Ang, who is in remand, had pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in a conspiracy to cheat and one count of attempted conspiracy to cheat.
He also admitted to two gambling-related charges and a criminal intimidation charge.
Another 33 charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.
One of the accomplices, Chloe Low Zhiyi, 23, who was in a relationship with him, was also convicted on Nov 5. She will be sentenced in December.
Ang devised the conspiracy around April 2024, and created profiles of fictional women on dating platforms.
Posing as a woman, he chatted with prospective dates and invited them to play mahjong.
These prospective dates became victims of the rigged games.
Once a mahjong game was scheduled, Ang would tell one of his female accomplices to pose as the woman in the dating profile.
She would act as the host of the game, which took place at various locations, including SAFRA Toa Payoh.
During the games, Ang got his accomplices to assume fake names. He also asked some of them to pretend they did not know one another in case the victim declined to play.
Ang decided on the rules and rates used to calculate the winnings for each session. On most occasions, he appointed another accomplice to be a reserve player.
This player would observe the victim’s style of play and share the information with his or her accomplices to reduce the victim’s winning chances.
Each accomplice had a specific role.
The first player had to prevent the victim from winning. The second player’s job was to form a winning hand as quickly as possible or help the third player by discarding tiles he or she needed.
The third player had to form the biggest hand possible to maximise how much the victim had to pay.
At least 28 games involving different victims were arranged between April and June 2024, and at least 19 games went ahead.
Ang participated in 12 games, while Low took part in 10.
Separately, he also committed criminal intimidation against one of his alleged accomplices, Belinda Chee Yan Lin, 25, in April 2025.
He had threatened to throw her from her condominium unit on the eighth floor.
The cases involving Low, Chee and five other people are pending.
In October, an accomplice, Olivia Chin Hui Zhen, 31, was sentenced to eight months’ jail and a fine of $3,000.
On Nov 5, Ang’s lawyer, John Koh from Avalon Law Corporation, pleaded for his client to be given between 19 and 21 months’ jail, and a fine of $15,000.
He said Ang had not used a weapon against Chee. - The Straits Times/ANN
