Online Casino Bonus Fraud Costs Belarussian Three Years in Jail

A Belarussian man who scuppered together nearly GBP 80,000 in fraudulent online gambling bonus claims has been sentenced to three years in jail, online gambling news in United Kingdom reports.

The thirty five year old man, a Mr. Andrei Ospiau used fake passports, doctored bills and phoney ID cards to assume the identity of several different individuals to scam the US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian online casino sites offering large bonus offers to new gamers. In doing so, he hoped to bypass any British gambling laws, which would surely have nailed down the slippery artist. To his end, he failed miserably.

Mr. Ospiau is believed to have been carrying five thousand nine hundred copies of various passports along with other identification papers from citizens of all four countries.

In a bid to remain uncaught, Mr. Ospiau also opened bank accounts under aliases and then used online money agents and e-wallets to transfer money to and from the casino sites to any number of “his” accounts.

It wasn’t all to be rosy for the Belarussian however. His critical mistake came when he sent two passports with identical images although different names to the same online casino in United Kingdom a mere twelve minutes apart, which gave his game away.

The Met police gaming unit head detective inspector Ann-Marie Waller commented the punishment: “this joint investigation with the Gambling Commission demonstrates the Met’s commitment to combating high tech organized crime. The sentence imposed by the judge should deter anyone considering committing crime involving stolen or compromised identities.”

Pleading guilty to possession of items used in fraud, fraud itself and transferring of criminal property, Mr. Ospiau was sentenced to three years in jail, during which Judge Nicolas Loraine-Smith commented: “I expect and intend that you will be deported at the end of your sentence.”