Following a £2.7 million Roulette scam, three British men have been arrested and put in jail in Monaco but not without leaving gaming control authorities a bit impressed with their skills.
Sajid Rashid, Qamar Hussain and Zahidul Haque Khan chose the Grand Casino of Monte Carlo as their year-long playground.
They now face up to three years in prison but not without an interesting twist. They are only being required to return £624,000 meaning they get to keep over £2 million!
The three guys ran a scam using fake tokens that were exact replicas of Grand Casino’s €1,000 chips and sold them for €10 each.
Beginning in April 2014 through June 2015, they won about €3.66 million (approximately £2.7M) while hitting the Roulette tables.
As a result of their highrolling habits, the casino began to offer free rooms and food during their stay.
Each of the men faces several charges, some of which they admit to, and say they’ve had issues with problem gambling from a young age.
49-year-old Sajid Rashid was originally from Pakistan and was “the brains of the operation” according to prosecutor Alexia Brianti.
Rashid used many aliases, was banned from entering certain casinos in London and had prior gambling charges in UK. He hooked with 26-year-old Qamar Hussain and 45-year-old Zahidul Haque Khan to scam Grand Casino.
Christian Ollier, head of the Gaming Control Service of the Government of Monaco, said that casino owner, Société des bains de mer de Monaco (SBM), was “negligent” in this case but “These gentlemen were very good.”
hobitgirli
8 years ago
Hero Member
Well, why someone try to scam a casino, I think that is stupid. And maybe they think so too now when got into trouble.
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PaaskeUK
8 years ago
Full Member
This is just crazy. Clever done by them but again crime does not pay!!! they get their punishment. But yes sounds strange they only has to return 624.000 maybe this is because that amount is for trial and also includes amount of fake chips? In one way they won the money and made profit. And because they started of with...
This is just crazy. Clever done by them but again crime does not pay!!! they get their punishment. But yes sounds strange they only has to return 624.000 maybe this is because that amount is for trial and also includes amount of fake chips? In one way they won the money and made profit. And because they started of with the fake chips/coins then later on they were betting with real chips and therefor their winnings are legit. That is how I look at it here.
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pinkxxx
8 years ago
Sr. Newbie
Seriously?, who would try to scam a casino. That's just asking for trouble. Tey have so much security and measures in place your chances are better winning than stealing from them ..LOL Too bad they didn't put all that time and knowledge into something positive and more productive.
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rferry5
8 years ago
Sr. Member
Wow! Unfortunately this is somewhat of a learning tool for the online casinos. Maybe they can learn from these guys who cheated them out of their money. I would like to know where they made the tokens? Someone maybe on the inside of casino perhaps...........
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leannep
8 years ago
Full Member
Uhhh...more about them "keeping" two million pounds sterling, please...I do not see the correlation between fake chips and "winnng". Plus...nothing helps with "problem gambling issues", like a big, questionable surplus...
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jade
8 years ago
Super Hero
I would like to hear the whole story and maybe somewhere down the line we'll see a movie of their escapades. People like this, so smart. How did they finally get caught? Sometimes people that are smart enough to get away with schemes of this nature can be of better use to a casino than just putting them behind bars. Many...
I would like to hear the whole story and maybe somewhere down the line we'll see a movie of their escapades. People like this, so smart. How did they finally get caught? Sometimes people that are smart enough to get away with schemes of this nature can be of better use to a casino than just putting them behind bars. Many of these people have turned their lives around, turned the tables, no pun intended and become the best security a casino can get otherwise. I'm curious to see if the brains of this outfit will really serve time or maybe he could be of service to this casino.
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righton
8 years ago
Full Member
Its a difficult one this ..on the one hand you admire the gall and briliiance of the perpatrators to carry out there magnificent scam..but on the other hand there is a moral issue whereby all crimes are wrong but the sheer brassed neck of those guys to create a forged chip and not only that but to sell it for 10 euros at...
Its a difficult one this ..on the one hand you admire the gall and briliiance of the perpatrators to carry out there magnificent scam..but on the other hand there is a moral issue whereby all crimes are wrong but the sheer brassed neck of those guys to create a forged chip and not only that but to sell it for 10 euros at a pop ...brilliant or maybe not ...you decide.
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advoghado
8 years ago
Hero Member
Unfortunately there are people with great minds but that using this capacity for evil, certainly in additional to imprisonment, the "players" must pay the casino for all the damage they caused, and could still be sued civilly for damages the image of the Casino. Really seems a history of cinema, but which unfortunately...
Unfortunately there are people with great minds but that using this capacity for evil, certainly in additional to imprisonment, the "players" must pay the casino for all the damage they caused, and could still be sued civilly for damages the image of the Casino. Really seems a history of cinema, but which unfortunately happened in real life.
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okotomi1
8 years ago
Sr. Member
I assume they have to pay the 624,00 pounds back because of the criminal charges, means after a civil trial they have to return the rest too but I might be wrong. At least this is the only explonation that I have in mind at the moment. Besides, this is an unbelievable story and it took me some time to be interested in....
I assume they have to pay the 624,00 pounds back because of the criminal charges, means after a civil trial they have to return the rest too but I might be wrong. At least this is the only explonation that I have in mind at the moment. Besides, this is an unbelievable story and it took me some time to be interested in. Faking casino chips and winning at the tables are two very different things. OMG! Apparently they could not use their skills for good which is a sad thing.
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Vanenhox
8 years ago
Sr. Member
I am sure the article only gives a very brief summary of what must be a very fascinating story. There is a television documentary series about people who over the years have tried to cheat--through various methods--or use brilliant mathematical systems to turn the casino's in Vegas and other places into their own private...
I am sure the article only gives a very brief summary of what must be a very fascinating story. There is a television documentary series about people who over the years have tried to cheat--through various methods--or use brilliant mathematical systems to turn the casino's in Vegas and other places into their own private cash cows. I admire the daring and skill of these renegades and math whizzes especially back in the days when the casino's used more than prosecution to punish those who would exploit all the money they have on offer.
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rhoda1957
8 years ago
Newbie
WOW, I knew they made movies based on real life events but this one was straight out of the movie "Casino". They must have been really good and confident to even try this scam. My question is, why do they only have to pay back so little, did they lose the rest and only won 624,000 out of the 3 million they say was won on...
WOW, I knew they made movies based on real life events but this one was straight out of the movie "Casino". They must have been really good and confident to even try this scam. My question is, why do they only have to pay back so little, did they lose the rest and only won 624,000 out of the 3 million they say was won on roulette. Strange. If they only have to spend a little time in jail and they get to keep the rest, then they have their retirement money already
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