Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2000 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001 Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492 Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/ Author: David Humphries, State Political Editor TEN HIGH ROLLERS BET $386M IN JUST SIX MONTHS The old Sydney Harbour Casino's top 10 high rollers bet $386 million in six months and a total of $66 million in just one month, according to casino monitors. The "Endeavour Room Top 1,000 Members" list, part of which has been obtained by the Opposition, showed that the biggest punter in the casino's high rollers' room in the latter half of 1996 was a Hong Kong resident, who bet a total of $96 million. Second was heroin supplier Van Duong, who bet $94 million. He topped the list for the month of June 1996, when he put $21 million through the high rollers' room. Van Duong was one of 30 high-profile gamblers excluded from the casino in September 1997 on orders of the Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan. He gambled at interstate casinos until 1998 and was subsequently jailed for eight years for supplying $75,000 worth of heroin in Cabramatta. When questioned about Van Duong's exclusion for the ABC's Four Cornersprogram last month, the Casino Control Authority chairwoman, Ms Kaye Loder, said she was "sorry to see the money go out of NSW". Her remarks prompted her removal by the Premier, Mr Carr. On the six-monthly figures, which the Opposition said were compiled by the Division of Casino Surveillance within the Department of Racing and Gaming, six of the top 10 gamblers lived in NSW. Their addresses were given as Bonnyrigg (Van Duong), Earlwood, Leichhardt, Camperdown, St Ives and Point Piper. The other top 10 gamblers lived in Hong Kong, Indonesia or Singapore. The Government yesterday said 46 high rollers had been excluded since the casino began five years ago with a different operator to the current one, Tabcorp. Forty-four exclusions had been ordered by Mr Ryan who, according to Mr Carr, was the nation's only police chief to have exercised the exclusion power. The director of casino surveillance, currently Mr Ron Harrax, had issued two exclusion orders, one jointly with Mr Ryan, and the casino had excluded one high roller. About 2,000 other gamblers had been excluded, either by the casino, the authorities or themselves, said a spokesman for the Racing and Gaming Minister, Mr Face. The spokesman said the Government would today answer Opposition questions on how many reports had been compiled by casino inspectors on possible money laundering and other criminal activity, and how many had been acted on. The Opposition's gaming spokesman, Mr Rob Oakeshott, said last night it was suspected that many reports of criminal activities using the casino were ignored by authorities. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk