Two men allegedly paid Mohegan Sun dealers to mark cards

Two New York City men were arraigned in this morning on charges that they conspired with baccarat dealers to cheat Mohegan Sun out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Hung Lit Leung, 61, and Leonard Hu, 48, are charged with cheating at gambling, conspiracy to cheat at gambling, first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny.

The state police casino unit started an investigation in February after the casino surveillance department notified police that a dealer was seen marking cards with his thumb nail.

Leung and Hu allegedly paid casino dealers Bong Gate Louie and Jian Bang Ng to mark the seven, eight and nine cards in baccarat and mini baccarat games, giving them a 21.53% advantage of winning each hand.  Their gambling records indicated that both men had lost more money than they won until they started cheating. From October 2010 to December 2010, Hu won $234,750 and showed no losses, according to the affidavit. He went on to win $119,200 in January 2010. Leung’s gambling record showed that he won $9,870 in November 2010, $51,400 in December 2010 and $34,600 in January 2011.

   Leung and Hu, who are both free on $30,000 bond, appeared in court together and were assisted by a Chinese interpreter though they understand some English. They each said they needed some time to hire attorneys. Judge Patrick J. Clifford entered not guilty pleas for them and continued the cases to Aug. 2.

The two former casino dealers have also been charged and have cases pending in the same court.