10 Nov 2010, ST
CARRYING two suitcases stuffed with $7 million cash winnings from Marina Bay Sands, South Korean Kim Wooyeong was stopped at the airport and arrested for failing to declare the money he was taking out of the country.
It turned out that his uncle, an agent for casino patrons in Macau, had won the sum here with his friends and then asked Kim to bring the money back to Macau on Aug 24.
On Tuesday, the 28-year-old nephew was fined $30,000 for what is believed to be the biggest amount to date to be carried over the border. A district court heard that anyone moving $30,000 or more, or its equivalent in a foreign currency, must submit a report at a checkpoint. Failure to do so could mean the maximum $30,000 fine and/or up to three years in jail.
A district court heard that aviation security officer Eugene Lim, 35, stationed at the Budget Terminal at Changi Airport became suspicious when the X-ray screening machine showed that Kim’s two briefcases were packed with wads of paper. A physical check was then carried out and officers found a total of $7.027 million in the bags.
