Law Grad Pleads Guilty in ATM Scam at Sands Casino
A law graduate who had at one time landed a job with a New York law firm has pleaded guilty to accusations that she watched ATM users at a Pennsylvania casino so she could withdraw money from their bank accounts.
Shoumin Chai was accused of pretending to help people at an ATM at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem so she could see their password, the Morning Call reports. She got the ATM users to insert their cards twice, creating two windows, so she could use the second window to access their accounts. She stole $1,100, according to prosecutors.
Chai pleaded guilty on Monday to three counts each of access device fraud, identity theft and theft, the story says. She was sentenced to two to five years in prison and five years’ probation.
The conviction was not her first, according to the Morning Call.
Defense lawyer James Connell said Chai had 13 gambling-related felony convictions in New Jersey and she had been banned from casinos in the state.
According to Connell, Chai had a promising career after receiving her masters of law from the University of Houston, LehighValleyLive.com reports. She was preparing to take the bar exam when co-workers took Chai to Atlantic City in 1992. After that, she became addicted to gambling and never took the bar.
“She should be standing in a courtroom rather than sitting in one facing sentence,” Connell said.
