Casino Fraudster Jailed For 18 Months After Failed Chip Scam

UK resident Augustin Dago has recently received an 18 month prison sentence after authorities uncovered his attempt to defraud casinos by producing his own fake chips.
The 20-year-old fraudster naively thought he was on to a sure thing after contacting several casino chip manufacturers across the world, with the cover story that he needed £25 denomination chips for his own personal  home casino. He even went so far as to  send them pictures of the exact type of chips he wanted.
In February 2009, Augustin Dago then used a fake driving licence to join two London Gala casinos and open up several bank accounts under his fake name, in anticipation of putting his sting into operation.
However, Dago didn’t plan for the fact that the token company recognised the Gala Casinos chip design he had ordered, and so they contacted Gala Coral Group Ltd, who then informed the police.
Shortly after, London’s Clubs and Vice Unit arrested Dago, and a subsequent search of his Richford Street, W6 premises, revealed a plethora of incriminating evidence including photos of Gala cash chips, details of the casino chip manufacturing companies he had contacted, as well as verification of his requests.
At this point, seeing the game was up, Dago came clean and confessed his scheme to con Gala casinos using the counterfeit chips, and then using fake bank accounts in order to launder the money.
On Tuesday 25th May, after admitting to four charges of fraud, Augustin Dago was sentenced in Southwark Crown Court to 18 months in prison.
Commenting on the case, Detective Inspector Ann Marie Waller said: “This was a calculated attempt to commit fraud against one of the major gaming groups in the UK. Due to the quick thinking of both the chip manufacturer and Gala Coral Group Limited, Augustin Dago was stopped from circulating counterfeit casino cash chips.”