The two men, originally from Eastern European countries, are suspected of being part of a network of professional cheats who visited numerous casinos in Europe.
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Two men suspected of scouring European casinos with a virtually undetectable cheating system were arrested on the night of Sunday 28 to Monday 29 July at the Enghien-les-Bains casino (Val-d’Oise), according to information from franceinfo on Friday. These two men were indicted for organized fraud and placed in pre-trial detention. They are suspected of having fraudulently won several tens of thousands of euros per evening each time they went to casinos.
To arrest the two men on Monday night, around 1am, the police set up a surveillance system to catch them in the act. According to the first elements of the investigation, these two men from Eastern European countries are part of a network of professional cheats who went to many casinos in Europe. These two suspects are aged around sixty and forty, from Latvia and Ukraine.
Thanks to a tip, investigators have uncovered a perfectly fine-tuned system, virtually undetectable to the naked eye. “We were able to document in detail a unique cheating system”rejoices Commissioner Stéphane Piallat, head of the central racing and gaming service (SCCJ) at the national directorate of the judicial police (DNPJ).
On the night of Sunday to Monday when he was arrested, one of these two men was playing at one of the poker tables in the Enghien-les-Bains casino. He was equipped with an earpiece so small and undetectable that it had to be removed with a magnet. This earpiece allowed this man to receive playing instructions from an accomplice present in a car outside the casino.
The police realized that the accomplice was receiving images of the poker table through a camera built into the player’s phone, which was lying flat on the poker table. The camera was not filming upwards or downwards, as all smartphones do, but to the side using a “complex” device, according to Commissioner Stéphane Piallat. These suspects were thus able to see the cards dealt by the dealer.
This scheme allowed, according to a source close to the case, these men to earn several tens of thousands of euros per evening. By searching the accomplice’s car and their hotel room, the police came across numerous access cards to casinos all over Europe. This case “must allow casinos to take measures to ensure that this type of scam can no longer take place by taking appropriate measures”analyses Commissioner Stéphane Piallat.