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Couple started casino cheating system that netted millions

Gang hit more than a dozen casinos in U.S., Canada

Adrian Humphreys, National Post
September 17, 2008

When the dealer at Table #206 at Ontario's Casino Rama started flipping cards for a mini-baccarat game, there was little doubt among the high rollers who would win. On that hand, dealt at 8:42 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2003, two players raked in $6,500.

That was chump change, however - just one hand in an astonishingly successful swindle.

When the gang hit the tables in earnest, they walked away from the Orillia casino with $2,062,927 in winnings, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Over the next five years, the joint Canada-U.S. gang stripped casinos of tens of millions of dollars with a cheating system built around corrupt card dealers and mini radio transmitters bought at a commercial spy-gadget shop in Toronto.

It eventually sparked the largest casino-cheat investigation ever undertaken in Canada or the United States. The sprawl of the gang continues to be unveiled in courts on both sides of the border. A long list of conspirators has already pleaded guilty and, this week, another 11 people were freshly indicted in California, partly on evidence from a Canadian who is co-operating with authorities.

After so many years of making a killing at casino after casino, the gang could be forgiven for thinking their system was foolproof.

The bosses - most of whom were related, extending to three generations of family members working the scheme in Canada - were living a life of luxury, dripping with flashy diamond-and-gold jewellery, multiple homes and fancy sports cars.

The casino cheat team, however, had humble beginnings.

The system was concocted by a husband and wife who were both dealers at a casino on an Indian reservation in California.

Phuong Quoc Truong and Van Thu Tran mastered a "false shuffle" that, in 2002, allowed friends to win small amounts at their casino. Truong was later caught and fired.

Undaunted, they joined with Tran's brother, Khai Hong Tran, 49, who lived in Windsor and over years finessed their system into a high-tech, cross-border effort worthy of a Hollywood movie.

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