Casino-target gang face jail

A gang of cheats which targeted casinos in Wolverhampton and around the country in an attempt to steal tens of thousands of pounds was facing jail this afternoon.

Anthony Lopez, aged 42, Danny Ngo, 33, and Robert Evans, 36, were well-known to security staff as some of the most skilled card sharps in the business. They used a string of fake identities to try and fool casino bosses into letting them play. Lopez had 45 different aliases and wrote a detailed manual on how to cheat the system.

This included instructions on how to distract croupiers and training methods for accomplices.

His guide even suggested "dressing up as a Jewish person" as a way to get past security. Inside the casinos Lopez and his team used a variety of techniques to cheat at the tables.

Roulette scams often involved trying to fool the croupier as to which number the player had bet on or how much he had wagered.

Card tricks included using an accomplice to try and signal other player's hands and attempting to mark the pack.

Ngo and Evans were schooled in Lopez's methods in a cheat's masterclass and it is understood the gang targeted Gala Casinos.

They followed him around venues in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Bristol and Edinburgh, London's Southwark Crown Court heard.

Wolverhampton's Gala Casino, on Whitmore Street in the city centre, declined to comment on whether or not it it was the city casino which had been targeted by the men.

Nicholas Mathers, prosecuting, told the court: "Over a period of time we say that the defendants have been using bogus IDs in order to get into casinos.

"The IDs used are driving licences and the reason for them entering casinos we say is to cheat.

"All three have previously been banned from entering casinos and at the time of the offences they were banned."

Lopez, of Wimbledon, London, Ngo, of Birchfield Road, Perry Barr, Birmingham, and Evans, of Manchester, all admitted various charges of fraud or possessing false IDs.