Gambling: Gang arrested after £1.3m win at Ritz casinoThree people have been arrested on suspicion of using James Bond-style electronic trickery to win almost £1.3 million at a London casino.
The Metropolitan Police said today that two men and a woman, all from Eastern Europe, had been arrested for allegedly obtaining money by deception.
They are accused of using a scanner inserted into a mobile phone and hooked up to a microcomputer to calculate where a roulette ball would probably fall after the third turn of the wheel.
The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the trio attracted suspicion when they won the huge sum at roulette last week at the casino in the Ritz Hotel. They were paid £300,000 in cash and more than £900,000 by cheque as part of their winnings.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said "a significant amount of cash had been seized in the investigation".
In the game of roulette bets are placed on alternate red and black numbers on a wheel, numbered 0 to 36, and odds are paid out according to where the roulette ball lands when the wheel is spun.
The newspaper said that police were investigating whether they had used the scanner to calculate the speed of the ball when released and its probable finishing point on the wheel.
By the time the calculation were made the gambler would still have several seconds before the croupier called "no more bets".
Bosses at the exclusive casino, frequented by Arab princes and international playboys, became suspicious of the amazing run of luck on March 16.
All tables are monitored using video cameras and experts looked at the tapes before calling in Scotland Yard.
Two Serbian men, aged 38 and 33, and a 32-year-old Hungarian woman were arrested and police also seized their winnings and mobile phones.
The suspects were taken to a police station and then bailed until March 30.
Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University, said: "I havent heard of a laser scanner being used before but roulette mathematical systems have been used for years based on the speed of the ball and where the croupier puts the ball.
"It is reliant on calculations being done very quickly and when you have got technology involved it improves the chances.
"But the industry is well aware there may be underhand methods operating and when something happens once, word travels very quickly."
The alleged scam happened at one of the worlds most high-profile gaming houses.
The secret rooms of the Ritz Club casino are tucked away off Londons Piccadilly in the former ballroom of The Ritz Hotel.
It opened as a casino in 1978 and is now one of the worlds most exclusive, privately owned members-only clubs featuring chandeliers, ornate ceilings and plush red carpets.
A spokeswoman for the casino said today: "We have no comment to make."
