May 2, 2007

NEWS: Man Ran Scam at Casino

Sung Huynh, 35, of Philadelphia, has been arrested and faces up to five years in prison if convicted of running a credit card scam out of the Foxwoods Resort Casino. Huynh, who admitted to his part in the scam, managed to defraud credit card companies of almost $2 million over the course of a year before being caught and shut down this February, according to local authorities.

Huynh was utilizing the help of a network of assistants to round up casino patrons to get involved in the scheme, say prosecutors. Court documents reveal that Huynh admitted to using a team of what he called “runners” to tempt gamblers with the spoils of helping out. These patrons would turn crucial information like name, address, date of birth, social security number, and credit card information to Huynh’s runners. The runners then called Huynh with the information, and Huynh would make an automated payment to the account – using fake bank information, of course. (The routing numbers were phony, although the account numbers were said to be real.)

Huynh would wait for the rubber payment to be posted, then alert the patrons to make cash advance transactions in the casino terminals. After that, the patrons could turn in the receipts for cash. The patrons paid the runners a sizeable chunk for a kickback to Huynh, who then paid the runners. Of course, the only one making money here was Huynh. Many of the credit card holders are facing action from their card issuers for the fraudulent payments.

Under the plea agreement to which Huynh agreed, he faces up to 63 months in prison and a $100,000 fine for ring-leading the scam. He also agreed to repay the swindled credit card companies.


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