Crime & Safety
Annandale Couple Charged in Fake Casino Chips Case
The two also threw $115,000 worth of unused counterfeit chips into Lake Accotink, police say; police are on the lookout for another Northern Virginia couple in the scheme.
An Annandale couple faces several theft charges for allegedly passing fake casino chips at the Maryland Live! casino in Hanover, Md., and then discarding extra ones in Lake Accotink.
Maryland state police charged Rosa A. Nguyen, 36, and her husband, Vuong Q. Truong, 37, both of Annandale, Va. Nguyen is charged with one count of theft between $1,000 and $10,000, and two counts of conspiracy to commit theft between $1,000 and $10,000. Truong is charged with four counts of committing a theft scheme and one count of conspiracy to commit theft. Both were served with criminal summonses last week.
The investigation began Jan. 20, when the Maryland state police’s Criminal Enforcement Division investigators were called to the Maryland Live! casino at Arundel Mills Mall, where there was a report of counterfeit poker chips being used in the casino.
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Casino officials described four suspects who had passed counterfeit $100 poker chips in two incidents.
Police allege Nguyen purchased $150,000 worth of counterfeit casino chips online for $12,000. The chips were altered to appear similar to Maryland Live! casino chips.
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Investigators found about $115,000 worth of unused counterfeit chips tossed in Lake Accotink, near where the couple lives.
Police are looking for another couple, also from Northern Virginia, in the second case. Investigators believe the man and woman got $1 chips from a West Virginia casino and altered them to appear as $100 chips from Maryland Live!
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