Alleged Okanagan cheaters worked alone on rare Casino fraud scam

KELOWNA – No other poker or roulette players were impacted by the dealer and player alleged to have cheated a Kelowna casino last year, according to police.

RCMP sent out a media release on Feb. 7 saying Mingzhe Xu, a 25-year-old Kamloops man and Yun Long Yang, a 21-year-old from Kelowna, were both arrested and charged with attempting to defraud a casino.

Although the amount alleged to have been stolen has not been disclosed, the release said the gambler was caught on video visiting Yang’s roulette and poker tables over a three-day period.

Yang’s gaming worker registration has been revoked but no mention was made about other players who may also have lost money.

The unusual case is being handled by the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team out of Surrey, according to Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton. 

“These are the first charges like this in over two years," he says. 

Although he declined to disclose the scam used, he says they are not appealing for other potential victims to come forward and that the pair worked together only when no other players were at the table.

“Our investigators believe that no one else were involved,” he says.

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