Multistate Baccarat Scam Nets $1.5 Million, Cops Hunt Cheating Ring

• Group scammed at least 10 casinos across six states
• Surveillance captured cheating methods using cut cards, phones
• Warrants issued for six suspects in massive gambling fraud

 Authorities in several states are hunting a baccarat cheating ring that hit at least 10 casinos across the country for more than $1.5 million.

That’s according to documents filed earlier this month to a criminal court in Lake County, Ind., where the gang allegedly bilked the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana out of more than $700K.

Split-Second Recording

The group’s method involved using a cut card to fan out the deck for a split second, long enough for a recording device to capture the order of the cards.

The image was then relayed to an accomplice who would study the deck and advise other members via concealed earpieces about when to bet optimally.

Jianchu Liu, Fuxiang Liu, Qingyong Zhang, Honghui Wu, Daiqi Wang, and Yuhan Hu are each wanted by authorities in Indiana on counts of felony theft and cheating at gambling. Warrants have been issued for their arrest.

Casino.org reported in April that Liu, a Chinese national, is also wanted in Pennsylvania on a warrant that charges him with two misdemeanor counts of winning by fraud or trickery.

Caught on Camera

Security video from Mohegan Pennsylvania showed Lui launching an app on his cellphone while seated at the baccarat table. He made sure to darken the screen to prevent security from seeing what he was doing, according to a police affidavit.

After Liu placed the phone under a stack of baccarat scorecards, the dealer shuffled and allowed Liu to cut the deck. The player was seen to move the dealer’s hands around to “dictate how [the dealer] should be holding the deck,” according to police.

One dealer at the Hard Rock was initially suspected of being an inside man, according to the affidavit. However, when investigators interviewed him, they realized the dealer was being manipulated by the group due to his relative inexperience.