They are accused of manipulating one of the betting machines.
Spain.- Two men were arrested in Elda, Alicante, for allegedly defrauding more than €15,000 in four days by manipulating a sports betting machine installed in a local cafe, whose owner is one of the detainees.
The accused face charges of continuous fraud, robbery with force, and membership in a criminal organization, according to the National Police of Spain.
The investigation began after a complaint from a betting house manager, who reported that one of his machines had been altered to make fraudulent bets. The complainant indicated that his company suffered an economic loss of over €36,000, as, in addition to the irregular bets, the legitimate winnings earned by customers who played without knowing the machine had been tampered with had to be accounted for.
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The investigations revealed that the perpetrators discreetly forced the cash drawer, inserted €50 bills, and immediately withdrew them, repeating the process several times to generate fraudulent bets worth thousands of euros, which allowed them to obtain large cash profits. Later, they went to collect the prizes in different gaming halls.
The agents discovered that the fraudulent bets were made in a cafe in Elda and that the prizes were collected in several gaming halls in the town and in Benidorm.
According to the police, the owner of the cafe, in complicity with the other detainee, would have facilitated the manipulation of the sports betting machine in his establishment. Both would have defrauded more than €15,000 in just four days.
