| Four Members Of Casino Cheating Ring Sentenced |
Four men at the centre of a casino cheating enterprise that netted millions of dollars from US and Canadian casinos have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms.George Michael Lee, Duc Cong Nguyen, Hop Nguyen and Tien Duc Vu were sentenced today in San Diego for their roles in a casino scam by the "Tran Organization". Duc Cong Nguyen and Tien Duc Vu admitted that they had obtained up to $2.5 million by cheating in card games.
The four men were sentenced to a total of eight years in prison and were also ordered to pay back a total of $1.8m (£1.1m) to several casinos they had targeted.
According to court papers, the defendants and other members used a "false shuffle" cheating scheme at casinos during blackjack and mini-baccarat games.
The gang members allegedly bribed casino card dealers and supervisors to perform false shuffles during card games, thereby creating "slugs" or groups of unshuffled cards. Using an elaborate system of signals other team members would know exactly when the “slug cards” would be dealt and would place their bets accordingly.
By doing so, members of the team won thousands of dollars during card games, including winning several hundred thousand dollars on at least one occasion.
Mechanical tools, such hidden transmitter devices and specially created software that would predict the order in which cards would reappear during blackjack games, were also used during scams.
The case is also being investigated by the FBI, just in case the money was linked to further criminal activity.
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