£1.3m casino 'sting'

Three gamblers are believed to have taken the Ritz casino for more than £1 million in a sophisticated sting.

Although they were caught when police swooped on the casino, they may go free because their actions might not be illegal.

The trio are thought to have won a total of £1.3 million by using a laser scanner to predict the spin of the roulette wheel.

The gamblers, two Serbian men aged 38 and 33 and a 32-year-old Hungarian woman described by one police source as "chic and beautiful", were caught when Ritz bosses became suspicious after watching video footage of them at the roulette table.

They were apparently using a laser scanner hidden inside a mobile phone, linked to a microcomputer that calculated where the ball would drop.

As the wheel was spinning round, the information was delivered back to the gamblers using a button on the phone and bets were then placed before it came to a stop.

It is possible to place bets before the third spin of the wheel.

The threesome won £100,000 on their first visit to the casino, but on the second night they manag ed to scoop £1.2 million.

They were given £300,000 in cash and a cheque for £900,000 by the casino, but Ritz bosses called in the police after reviewing surveillance camera tapes.

Met officers arrested the gang at the casino for "obtaining their winnings by deception". They also seized the cash and several mobi le phones.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said today: " Off icers from our Money Laundering Investigations Team are investigating allegations of obtaining money by deception through gambling.

"The allegations were made by a casino in west London on March 16.

"Three people, two men and one woman, were arrested that evening at the casino and were taken to a London police station for questioning." They have been released on police bail until the end of the month.

There is currently no such offence as " cheating" at a casino.

However, under a Gambling Bill to go before Parliament next year, any attempt to use outside influences will be an offence.

One industry source said: "There have been rumours for several years about a device that could compute the rate at which the speed of a roulette wheel and the ball degrade.

"But there has been no hard evidence before that such a device has ever been used.

"Whether it is a crime at all is a moot point because the scanner does not actually interfere with the wheel or the ball."

The Ritz casino is situated beneath the Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly, where rooms cost between £365 and £465 per night. The hotel, which opened in 1906, was bought by Trafalgar House in 1976, and the company converted the ballroom into a casino.

In October 1995 the hotel was taken over by the multi-millionaire Barclay brothers in a £75million deal. Although the casino was also included in the deal, it is leased to London Casinos, in which the brothers also have a stake.

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