French Cops Catch Cheating Network Using ‘Microscopic’ Earpiece

• Gambling News
• 02 August 2024

A 63-year-old Ukrainian and a 37-year-old Latvian have been detained by French authorities on accusations of running an advanced, technologically advanced poker and blackjack cheating scheme in European casinos.

France Info said on Friday that the males, who are yet unidentified, were taken into custody on Monday at the Casino Barrière Enghien-les-Bains in the suburbs of Paris.

There are some gaps in the information. However, after receiving information about some players' "abnormal results," authorities deployed specialized surveillance equipment inside the casino on Sunday night in response to a tip.

"Microscopic" Headgear

It was discovered by the police that one of the males seated at the poker table had an earphone in his ear that needed to be taken out using a magnet.

Le Parisien asserted that the earphone was "invisible to the naked eye" and "microscopic."

In the meantime, a camera had been added to the side of the suspect's cell phone, pointed very slightly upward. It was able to see the undersides of the cards that the dealer had dealt to other players as it lay flat on the table.

Commissioner Stéphane Piallat, head of the Central Racing and Gaming Service (SCCJ) at the national directorate of the judicial police (DNPJ), called the phone alteration "complex."

According to investigators, the suspect's accomplice was watching the broadcast from inside a car in the parking lot while communicating with his opponent through an earpiece about the values of their cards.

"Unique" Method of Cheating  

Around one in the morning on Monday, the two males were taken into custody by the police. Many access cards to European casinos were found when their automobile and hotel rooms were searched.

Authorities think the individuals are a member of an East European organized crime group that has been robbing poker players and casinos of "tens of thousands of euros every night" that they wager.

In a contradictory statement, Piallat called the cheating method "unique" and stated that it was "unknown in France and very little documented in Europe."

"Take measures to ensure that this type of fraud can no longer take place," Piallat urged casinos to do.

The Pontoise prosecutor's office has accused the two men with "organized gang fraud" and put them in pretrial arrest as part of a legal inquiry.

The goal of the investigation is to find more network members.