Organised Crime Squad detectives have charged a couple from Kazakhstan for allegedly fraudulently winning over $1 million at a Sydney casino.
On Thursday 27 November 2025, a 36-year-old woman was observed by casino staff wearing a small discrete camera attached to her shirt.
Officers attached to State Crime Command's Organised Crime Squad Casino and Racing Unit were notified and attended the casino, where they arrested the woman and her 44-year-old husband.
On the pair, police located small, magnetised probes, batteries, and a mobile phone with a fitted attachment that allowed the camera function of the phone to discretely view, capture or record images.
Police also seized a small custom-made mirror attachment for the same mobile phone.
They were taken to Day Street Police Station where they were each charged with dishonestly obtain financial advantage etc by deception.
The pair were refused bail to appear in Bail Division Local Court 7 on Friday 28 November 2025.
Inquiries under Strike Force Antree identified the pair had travelled to Sydney from Kazakhstan in October 2025 and that same day applied for memberships to a casino in Baranagaroo.
Over the course of October and November the pair made multiple visits to the casino, winning a total of $1,179,412.50 and raising the suspicion of the Casino.
It will be alleged, with their mobile phones capturing images of the table, the pair were communicated with using deep seated earpieces through which they received instruction to wager on various card games and ultimately cheat the casino.
A subsequent search warrant was carried out at their accommodation on Kent Street in Sydney, where police located other gambling props, high end jewellery, and $2000 euro dollars.
Commander of the Organised Crime Squad, Detective Superintendent Peter Faux, said the Casino and Gaming Unit works in close partnership with casino security to detect and prevent criminal activity.
"Our detectives collaborate closely with casino security to identify and disrupt unlawful behaviour. This strong cooperation is vital to maintaining the integrity of gaming operations and is reflected in outcomes like this," Det Supt Faux said.
Anyone with information that may assist investigations into organised criminal activity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is managed on a confidential basis. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
