Cheaters never win. Well, that’s not entirely true. Some cheaters can get away with it for a while before it all comes crashing down.
That’s the arc we’ve seen countless times in several movies based on true stories. One couple in Australia, originally from Kazakhstan, just played out that whole arc as they made tons of money in a complex casino scam that inevitably led to their arrest.
According to New South Wales authorities, a married couple from Kazakhstan, comprised of 36-year-old Dilnoza Israilova and 44-year-old Alisherykhoja Israilov, allegedly turned a Mickey Mouse T-shirt into a miniature surveillance rig.
Allegedly, they had a pinhole camera feeding real-time images of casino tables straight to their phones. From there, hidden earpieces delivered the whispered instructions of when to bet and how much to push. And it worked.
Couple Accused of Using Spycam and Earpieces to Win Nearly $800K at Casino
A couple soon amassed a fortune that would have amounted to $1.18 million in Australian dollars, which is roughly $784,000 USD.
The BBC reports that the couple arrived in Sydney in October and immediately signed up for a casino membership. They spent the next several weeks racking up suspicious winnings. Nobody strolls off a plane, into a casino, and immediately goes on a weeks-long hot streak without some things fishy going on.
Eventually, staff noticed the tiny camera peeking out of the Mickey Mouse graphic on Israilova’s shirt and alerted the cops.
When officers arrested the couple, they allegedly found “magnetised probes,” a phone-mounted mirror attachment, and other items of equipment that your casual tourist gambler doesn’t usually have on them. A later search of their nearby hotel room turned up more cheating-related stuff, along with high-end jewelry and a bunch of cash.
Israilova and Israilov have been charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage and remain in custody after being denied bail. His court date is set for October, and hers is in February—no word yet on the court date for the Mickey Mouse shirt.
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