The Counter-deception Blog

Scam Claim Trio to Keep Casino Winnings
By Neville Dean, PA News.Scotsman.com

Three people investigated over an alleged hi-tech scam after they won more than £1 million at the Ritz casino will be able to keep their winnings, it emerged today. The two men and one woman, all from eastern Europe, had been on bail since winning the cash playing roulette at the casino roulette in March.

Police had investigated the possibility that the three used a James Bond-style gadget consisting of a hi-tech laser scanner inside a mobile phone to help them win the cash. The device could have been used to measure the speed of the roulette ball when released by the croupier and the declining orbit of the wheel. A microcomputer would then use this data to calculate which section of numbers the ball would land on, before sending this information back to the phone.

The three – two Serbian men, aged 38 and 33, and a 32-year-old Hungarian woman – were arrested after casino bosses became suspicious of their amazing run of luck and contacted police.

Officers also seized a “significant quantity of cash”. The three were questioned and later released on bail. However, Scotland Yard today said its inquiry had now ended and that all three would face no further action. A spokeswoman added that all the money – which had been held pending the outcome of the inquiry – had been returned.

According to a report in The Times newspaper, the gamblers had not broken any law because the alleged scam would not have interfered with the ball or roulette wheel. A spokeswoman for the casino refused to comment on the story.

The alleged scam happened at one of the world’s most high-profile gaming houses, which is frequented by Arab princes and international playboys. The secret rooms of the Ritz Club casino are tucked away off London’s Piccadilly in the former ballroom of The Ritz Hotel. It opened as a casino in 1978 and is now one of the world’s most exclusive, privately owned members-only clubs, featuring chandeliers, ornate ceilings and plush red carpets.