A 22-year-old student scammed Grosvenor Casino out of £24k and was handed a 12-month community service order. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Easy crime

A 22-year-old UK college student has been handed a 12-month community order after scamming £24,000 ($29,000) out of Grosvenor Casino Birmingham.

he managed to memorize a supervisor‘s PIN code

Originally from Greenwich, London, Samuel Bob-Emmanuel was a regular at the casino. On April 30, Bob-Emmanuel is reported to have entered the property where he managed to memorize a supervisor‘s PIN code.

Returning the following day, Bob-Emmanuel entered an unattended poker room, and credited the money to his account at the casino. He then left the casino after making the transaction.

Frozen money

Prosecutor Syed Ahmed told Birmingham Crown Court that Bob-Emmanuel had acted alone and that he obtained the PIN “without collusion” between him and the supervisor from whom he stole the code.

Members of staff were able to identify that the sum of money had been stolen. Checking security footage, they determined that it was Bob-Emmanuel who had committed the offense. Ahmed told the court: “The sum of money, part of it was frozen by the fraud team at TSB and some was paid back to the casino.”

it was always going to come back to him”

What Bob-Emmanuel wanted the money for is not clearly known, but defense lawyer Mohammed Naser said that his client had taken a year off university to “better equip himself for his final year.” Naser added: “He has not sought to conceal or dispose of evidence. Of course, the unsophisticated nature of the offence means it was always going to come back to him.”

Admits to fraud

Judge George Kelly said that while the crime was “unsophisticated,” it did require a degree of planning. Kelly added: “It wasn‘t entirely opportunistic because if it was you wouldn‘t have taken note of the supervisor‘s pin and wouldn‘t have kept that with you when you went to the casino the following day.”

Bob-Emmanuel admitted to fraud by false representation at Birmingham Crown Court and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity.