Dismantled a travelling criminal organization dedicated to the commission of scams in casinos

Three people of Moldovan nationality have been arrested in the Spain, who, through the use of sophisticated electronic means, identified the prize patterns on the machines and illegally obtained the benefits

They are charged with crimes committed in three casinos in the Basque Country, Galicia and Catalonia, without ruling out new accusations that could arise from the investigation

Agents of the National Police have dismantled, in a joint operation with the Ertzaintza, a criminal group dedicated to the commission of fraud in casinos throughout the national geography. Three people have been arrested during an operation carried out in the Gipuzkoan town of Irún.

The members of this criminal organization were dedicated to carrying out the scams through the use of a sophisticated system of detection of game patterns that affected the randomization algorithms of the reels of the arcade machines. After detecting the winning sequence, the detainees placed various bets on the slot machine to get the maximum benefit from it. The activity of this organized group has been confirmed in more than a dozen casinos throughout Spain.

Previous unprecedented operation

The information analyzed by the police specialists of the National Police and the Ertzaintza revealed the use of some type of electronic device that made it possible for the user to detect the winning game sequence, obtaining cash prizes.

Investigations by the police forces located two of the perpetrators in Guipúzcoa. For this reason, and in order to successfully complete the investigation, a joint working group was formed dedicated to fully identifying the members of the fraudster organization and, at the same time, obtaining images and complaints from those affected casinos.

From the analysis of the information collected and the study of the images obtained inside the casinos, it was possible to determine that, once they won their prizes on the chosen machines, of a specific class, the people investigated, so as not to indicate the point of fraud, with the ticket obtained from the prizes they switched to other machines to collect the benefits obtained. The prizes were always below a thousand euros so that their identity was not requested when they went to collect the winnings at the casino cashier.

The police efforts allowed the location of two of the suspects, on whom surveillance and follow-ups were carried out. As a result of this work, another member of the criminal organization was identified and located. It was also possible to verify that those investigated were the same people who had carried out this scam in the casinos of Girona and A Coruña, in addition to the Basque Country, and who visited the casinos of Valladolid, Zaragoza and Madrid, among others.

In the investigations, requests for information were also made to authorities of European Union countries, being able to detect the presence of this group in gambling venues in France and the arrest of one of the members in Belgium, while waiting for the information to be reported. same type of actions in other European gambling venues.