The Whale that beached

Part III

First, he approached an European bank. Using forged papers, he opened an account in his company’s name with himself as the sole signatory and got credit facilities for $500,000, which he used. Over the months, he used similar modus operandi on three other foreign banks, creating more fictitious documents and obtaining credit and loan facilities.

He was in sole control of all these accounts by using forged documents that authorized him to receive the credit and loan facilities, sign all transactions and operate the bank accounts on behalf of his company.

Tan Kim Teck used the money to pay his debts. But he knew he was still in trouble. How would he repay the astronomical amounts he now owed the banks? He cast his eye in the direction of the familiar casinos. But once again luck was not on his side as he watched with growing horror his financial meltdown from five disastrous outings.

By February 1995, Tan Kim Teck knew that in order to recoup his enormous losses, he had to play for higher stakes. Gambling on cruises would not suffice. The only way was to go to the world’s biggest casinos where the biggest bets are. So he left for Melbourne which offered him the highest stakes -- almost three times above the $100,000 a hand limit on cruise ships. Soon, his “overseas trips”, usually over the weekends, grew more frequent. He flew for free on the casino’s private jet and was pampered by the comforts of its presidential suite. But his luck did not change. It was loss after loss after loss. By the middle of 1998, Tan Kim Teck had lost a mind-boggling $30 million. On many occasions while flying back, he would close his eyes and prayed fervently for the plane to crash into the ocean below and put an end to all his sufferings.

But on Christmas Eve of 1997, in the middle of his deepening crisis, he had a surprise visitor from London. He turned out to be an aristocratic-looking gentleman who had flown all the way to Singapore to persuade him to gamble at his London casino. Tan Kim Teck was flattered. His reputation had certainly travelled. The gentleman explained that his casino was one of the most exclusive in the world, and catered only to a select clientele, princes, socialites and celebrities. He was as eager for him to join this circle of whales (big-time gamblers) as he was to grab at this lifeline – a maximum table limit of almost $1 million and a clean credit line of $10 million!

In March 1998, Tan Kim Teck made his first foray into London. Although he did not win on his maiden trip, his subsequent trips in June and August 1998 were lucrative ones. The latter in particular netted him $12 million, the single biggest win of his career. On the weekend of his return to Singapore, just before August, he was for the first time in years, calm and relaxed. His spirit was buoyed by the big win and he felt sure that this was the start of better things. But sadly for him, it turned out to be the calm before the storm. The Commercial Affairs Department got wind of his shenanigans and came knocking at his door. When he was arrested on 12 August 1998, the 46-year-old father of two teenage boys had swindled banks of a record $117 million and blown $62 million of it in casinos around the world. At that time, he was reputed to be the second-biggest casino gambler in the world. He was jailed for 42 years, the longest jail term meted out for a commercial crime in Singapore history.

In his career as a high roller, Tan Kim Teck had savoured the full spectrum of worldly living – from the enviable lifestyle of the rich and famous to the euphoric heights of a red-hot winning streak. But was it worth the while? Tan Kim Teck provided the answer with a question of his own, “What would I have achieved if by winning the world, I had to lose my loved ones?”

Part II

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