In a turn of events, a 22-year-old student from the UK successfully duped the Birmingham Grosvenor Casino, swindling more than $24,000 after learning the PIN code of a supervisor. The student, Londoner Samuel Bob-Emmanuel, faced and accepted a 12-month community service order his week, according to Birmingham Live.
Bob-Emmanuel, a regular visitor of the Birmingham establishment, managed to memorize the supervisor’s PIN code which he later used to facilitate a financial transfer to his credit account at the casino.
The incident reportedly took place on April 30, with Bob-Emmanuel returning to the Casino the following day. He then ventured upstairs to an unoccupied poker room, gained access to the casino’s computer system and proceeded to make the transfer. He left quietly after successfully making the transaction, court documents note.
Prosecutors indicated that Bob-Emmanuel acted solo in perpetrating the scam, with no assistance or collusion with any casino staff. Even though the fraud was simple in nature, it was effective enough for Bob-Emmanuel to temporarily gain a lump of money until most of it was frozen and returned by the bank’s fraud team to the casino earlier this week.
Casino employees discovered the missing funds quickly, and, aided by security footage, were able to identify Bob-Emmanuel as the culprit. The defendant hence pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and his defense lawyer, Mohammed Naser, defended his client’s actions, asserting that he had taken a year off from college as he aimed to secure a job to support his final year in school.
Although Judge George Kelly concurred that the fraud was unsophisticated, he underlined that Bob-Emmanuel’s actions showed a degree of planning that wasn’t entirely spontaneous.
While acknowledging the poor cunning of the fraud stating that the Casino would have easily traced the illicit activity since the premises were under constant CCTV surveillance, Judge Kelly agreed that the student’s deeds revealed a level of premeditation.
Bob-Emmanuel was consequently asked to perform 150 hours of community service and undertake 25 days of rehabilitation activity. The court confirmed the entire amount had been returned to the casino.
