Luck runs out for casino cheat
He was a real flash Harry – the casino manager who carried wads of money, wore Armani suits and showered friends with cash.
But Paul Kennedy had been financing his high-rolling lifestyle by teaming up with a hopelessly-addicted gambler to steal chips.
Now he faces a long stretch in jail for one of the biggest casino scams ever uncovered in this country.
Kennedy, 40, and gambler David Ho, 50, had worked out an elaborate scam to fleece the Stanley Casino in Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth.
Kennedy, who was the duty manager, would steal chips from the tables by 'palming' them with a sleight-of-hand move which could barely be detected.
He would put the chips in a toilet cubicle for Ho, to pick up. Ho would give Kennedy cash before collecting the chips.
Ho, who thought of himself as a professional gambler but in reality spent as much as he won, would then either cash in the chips or put them back on the poker tables.
Kennedy would fix the books at the end of the day in a bid to cover up the deception.
The scam went on for four years, with the pair stealing more than 1,000 a day.
A jury at Portsmouth Crown Court took just over three hours to convict Kennedy of South Parade, Southsea, and Ho of Newton Close, Swanage of conspiracy to defraud. They had denied the charges.
Both men were released on bail and will be sentenced next month.
simon.jones@thenews.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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