Arrests in Roulette Table Fraud

A gang has stolen more than 400,000 euros in three months by manipulating roulette tables in casinos and gambling establishments across Spain.

Four arrests have been made by the National Police, three in Madrid and one in Malaga, while another two are being investigated in Bilbao. The gang is responsible for committing fraud throughout Spain in betting halls, bingo parlours and casinos.

The organisation would carry out surveillance and research establishments to assess the level of security. Members would obtain false identities from stolen documentation to enter the casinos and gambling establishments, even working in the establishment where they would drill holes in the Roulette table to fit them with a metallic tool that change the spin of the ball and forced it to stop on certain numbers to scam thousands of euros. The gang has also been accused of committing the same fraud in an Austrian casino, with wins of over 117,000 euros.

In collaboration with the Ertzaintza, the Basque Country police force, and INTERPOL the gang was dismantled after six months of investigation, resulting in the arrests of all the group members. The gang had been operating for a number of years in Spain and across Europe, gaining extensive knowledge and experience in manipulating roulette machines in different gambling establishments.

Gambling in Spain has been legal and regulated for the past 40 years, casinos, both brick-and-mortar and online, sports betting, lottery, poker and daily fantasy sports are regular forms of betting and gambling in Spain. Gambling is a popular activity, with many Spaniards playing the lottery and frequenting sports betting establishments.

According to the TGM Sports Betting Survey conducted in Spain in October 2022, around 38.7 per cent of the population place bets on sporting events and online gambling is growing year upon year, with a projected market volume of €80bn in 2023, making it the biggest eCommerce activity in Spain.

The popularity of gambling continues to grow, in 2019/2020, 64.2 per cent of the population between the ages of 15 to 64 gambled, with the majority being men.  (66.8 per cent).