Three arrested over casino fraud

The three are though to have made £250,000 in the scam

Three people accused of using hidden cameras and ear-pieces to cheat in poker, have been arrested on suspicion of trying to defraud a casino.

Police said it was believed to be the first time suspects had been arrested in the UK for using equipment to cheat.

It was believed the three had been in at least six London casinos where they are alleged to have illegally netted more than £250,000.

The two men and a woman were arrested at a central London casino on Tuesday.

A Metropolitan Police (Met) spokesman said the woman and one of the men had used micro-cameras and beamed the pictures to a computer monitor watched by the second man.

Pre-planned operation

He then told the players, who are accused of wearing hidden ear-pieces, whether or not to bet, the police spokesman said.

The Met's Gaming Unit, working in partnership with the UK Casino Security Managers Association, carried out a pre-planned operation once the suspects had been identified.

Det Insp Darren Warner said: "The arrests are indicative of how the expertise of our unit, the only dedicated specialist unit of this type in the country, achieves good results when working so closely with casino surveillance departments."

David Mills, of UK Casino Security Managers Association, said "We have been tracking the increasing trend towards technical casino crime for some years now and are pleased that our internal procedures proved successful once again."

All three suspects, who are thought to have operated across the country, have been bailed to return to a central London police station in December.