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December 05, 2004
A TRIO of gamblers who pulled off an audacious coup at the Ritz in London using James Bond-style gadgetry to calculate where a roulette ball would land are to be allowed to keep their £1.3m winnings.
Scotland Yard, which seized cash and froze bank accounts during a nine-month investigation into the alleged “sting”, has decided there are no grounds to prosecute the gamblers.
It is the second big loss in 48 hours for the Barclay family which runs the hotel and casino. Last week a judge ruled that The Daily Telegraph, which it owns, had libelled George Galloway, the independent MP. He awarded him £150,000 damages and ordered the paper to pay the £1.2m costs of the trial.
The police decision will prompt the Ritz and other casinos to heighten security.
The gaming trio — described by police sources as a “chic and beautiful” Hungarian woman, aged 32, and two “elegant” Serbian men, aged 33 and 38 — were alleged to have smuggled a laser scanner linked to a micro-computer into the Ritz casino inside a mobile phone.
The scanner measured the speed of the ball as the croupier released it, identified where it dropped and measured the declining orbit of the wheel.
These three factors were beamed to the micro-computer, which calculated into which section of numbers on the wheel the ball would finally settle.
This information was then flashed onto the screen of the mobile just before the wheel made its third spin, by which time all bets must be placed.
Having reduced their odds of winning from 37-1 to 6-1, the trio placed bets on all six numbers in that section to ensure they would win.
On the first night they won £100,000. They returned the next night to win £1.2m. The gamblers cashed their chips and were paid £300,000 in cash and a £900,000 cheque. They declined offers of a free caviar-and-champagne dinner to celebrate and left.
The casino’s security experts began examining closed-circuit television footage and officers from the Yard’s gaming squad arrested the trio at a hotel nearby on suspicion of obtaining their winnings by deception.
They have been reporting to the Yard on police bail but have now been told they are free to leave Britain.
The Yard said: “The case has been stamped ‘no further action’. All the money impounded at the outset of the inquiry has been returned.”
Legal sources said the gamblers had to be let off because they had not violated any law. The scanner did not interfere with the ball or wheel. It provided information but did not manipulate the game.
Dr Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling at Nottingham Trent University, said: “If these people get off using this device, it opens up an avenue for other people to try the same.”
December 05, 2004
A TRIO of gamblers who pulled off an audacious coup at the Ritz in London using James Bond-style gadgetry to calculate where a roulette ball would land are to be allowed to keep their £1.3m winnings.
Scotland Yard, which seized cash and froze bank accounts during a nine-month investigation into the alleged “sting”, has decided there are no grounds to prosecute the gamblers.
It is the second big loss in 48 hours for the Barclay family which runs the hotel and casino. Last week a judge ruled that The Daily Telegraph, which it owns, had libelled George Galloway, the independent MP. He awarded him £150,000 damages and ordered the paper to pay the £1.2m costs of the trial.
The police decision will prompt the Ritz and other casinos to heighten security.
The gaming trio — described by police sources as a “chic and beautiful” Hungarian woman, aged 32, and two “elegant” Serbian men, aged 33 and 38 — were alleged to have smuggled a laser scanner linked to a micro-computer into the Ritz casino inside a mobile phone.
The scanner measured the speed of the ball as the croupier released it, identified where it dropped and measured the declining orbit of the wheel.
These three factors were beamed to the micro-computer, which calculated into which section of numbers on the wheel the ball would finally settle.
This information was then flashed onto the screen of the mobile just before the wheel made its third spin, by which time all bets must be placed.
Having reduced their odds of winning from 37-1 to 6-1, the trio placed bets on all six numbers in that section to ensure they would win.
On the first night they won £100,000. They returned the next night to win £1.2m. The gamblers cashed their chips and were paid £300,000 in cash and a £900,000 cheque. They declined offers of a free caviar-and-champagne dinner to celebrate and left.
The casino’s security experts began examining closed-circuit television footage and officers from the Yard’s gaming squad arrested the trio at a hotel nearby on suspicion of obtaining their winnings by deception.
They have been reporting to the Yard on police bail but have now been told they are free to leave Britain.
The Yard said: “The case has been stamped ‘no further action’. All the money impounded at the outset of the inquiry has been returned.”
Legal sources said the gamblers had to be let off because they had not violated any law. The scanner did not interfere with the ball or wheel. It provided information but did not manipulate the game.
Dr Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling at Nottingham Trent University, said: “If these people get off using this device, it opens up an avenue for other people to try the same.”
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