Six Malaysian men were sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven years and eight months to 12 years and 11 months for robbing a high-stakes poker game at a luxury home in Singapore two years ago. The heist occurred on 18 April 2024, when the men entered a bungalow in the affluent Bukit Timah area shortly after 2 a.m. They were armed with machetes and baseball bats and took advantage of the fact that the house was occupied by 11 people, including several poker players. The robbers restrained the victims with tape and cable ties, confiscated their phones and valuables, and searched the devices for cryptocurrency apps, transferring funds from one victim’s account. In total, they stole about $3.9 million in cash, cryptocurrency, luxury watches, and even the keys to a Ferrari. The court described the robbery as a “lightning heist.” The men pleaded guilty to charges including armed gang robbery and removing criminal proceeds from Singapore. Those under 50 also received 24 strokes of the cane, a form of corporal punishment used in Singapore for certain crimes. The convicted men were identified as Wong Chi Shan, 35; Goh Boon Tong, 30; Mohd Hamidon Ahmed, 49; Kartik Palaniappan, 34; Mohd Hashim Ismail, 51; and Muhammad Tauffiq Ahmad Fauzi, 34. The court heard that the robbery was planned for weeks, with Wong and Goh learning about the private poker games and visiting the house before deciding to target it. Goh then recruited Hamidon, who arranged for additional men to join the scheme. A seventh suspect, Muhammad Yusuf Kassim, 33, remains at large, having fled to Thailand. After the robbery, the men left Singapore through separate border crossings, discarded their clothes and weapons along the way, and regrouped in Malaysia. There, they converted some of the stolen cryptocurrency into cash and split the proceeds among themselves. They were arrested between April 2024 and November 2024 and brought back to Singapore to face prosecution. Authorities recovered S$1.69 million (about $1.27 million) of the stolen property, but more than S$3.2 million (about $2.4 million) remained missing. Goh assisted investigators in recovering about $800,000 worth of cryptocurrency. The court documents revealed that Hamidon was paid 10,000 ringgit (about $2,500) upfront to recruit men for the robbery. Wong and Goh planned for the robbers to wear black clothing, gloves, and ski masks to avoid being identified. The victims included the Chinese hostess of the game, Li Xiaoyu, her husband Li Yang, a poker game organizer named Hu Zhi Peng, a South Korean card dealer, a Malaysian masseur, and seven poker players from Indonesia, China, and Singapore. The robbers first confronted one victim as he emerged from the toilet, threatening him with a machete before restraining him and forcing him to stay inside. They then entered the living room, ordered everyone to raise their hands and lower their heads, and collected their phones. Justice Aidan Xu called the robbery “audacious and well-planned,” emphasizing that such actions disrupt public peace and security and would be met with severe consequences.