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WASHINGTON: A US man who set up an elaborate conspiracy to cheat US and Canadian casinos of millions of dollars was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Monday, the Justice Department said.
Officials said Phuong Quoc Truong will also forfeit nearly three million dollars, repay nearly six million dollars to several casinos he defrauded and forfeit assets including a several US and Vietnamese properties, a Porsche, a Rolex watch and a diamond-encrusted pendant.
Truong was convicted of having set up a criminal enterprise known as the "Tran Organisation," based in San Diego, which bribed casino card dealers and supervisors to help them execute an elaborate cheating scheme.
The scheme targeted blackjack and mini-baccarat games and involved "false shuffles" that would create groups of unshuffled cards that organisation members could successfully bet on, knowing the card order in advance.
"By doing so, members of the conspiracy allegedly repeatedly won thousands of dollars during card games, including winning several hundred thousand dollars on one occasion," the Justice Department said.
"Members of the organisation used sophisticated mechanisms for tracking the order of cards during games, including hidden transmitter devices and specially created software that would predict the order in which cards would reappear during blackjack games."
So far, 37 defendants have pleaded guilty to participating in the organisation and cheating approximately 27 casinos, the department added. - AFP/de
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