Punters admit helping manager steal £31,000 from casino in roulette con

Tong Vong and Mei Chun Law helped Dariusz Packo, 35, steal cash from Alea Casino at Clarence Dock in Leeds.

Packo was jailed for 18 months in July this year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud over the incident.

Law, 38, Blackwood Avenue, Cookridge, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud on the day of his trial and was handed a 31-week sentence, suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

Vong, 47, of Rockwood Hill Court, Pudsey, admitted the same offence and was given a 28-week sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Packo led the conspiracy while working as a pit manager at the casino on January 15 last year.

His job involved him being in charge of six gaming table croupiers.

He overruled one of his members of staff who was supervising a roulette table and ordered her to pay Vong and Law the sum of £31,000 for a different number.

His actions quickly drew suspicion with security and he was arrested later the same day after he had finished work. Packo later went to the De-Fresh restaurant in Alwoodley, which is owned by Vong and Law, and was given £5,500 as his share of the fraudulent winnings.

The cash was later found in his vehicle

CCTV footage from the casino showed Packo speaking to Vong and Law shortly before the deception took place.

Packo then gave them a signal by running his hand through his hair.

Vong and Law then placed maximum bets on number eight on a roulette table. The wheel was spun and 19 was the winning number but Packo overruled a member of staff and ordered her to pay out on eight.

Det Con James Steele, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “This was a calculated if somewhat naïve attempt to defraud the casino of a substantial amount of money.

“We are now pursuing Law and Vong to recover the outstanding money from the fraud.”