by Anton Johan
A man who developed ways to cheat land based casinos in the United Kingdom has been jailed.
Asylum seeker Bahram Sahami told the Middlesbrough court that he had become a gambling addict and, as a result, sought ways to fund his habit by cheating at a number of London casinos.
The Iranian born Sahami was banned from branches of Gala Coral casinos last year after it was suspected that he was cheating.
However, he managed to trick staff by using false identities and carried on his cheating spree.
He used UK driving licenses and other people's membership cards to enter the casinos, even though he had been officially barred from them.
According to the charges brought against Sahami, he added or removed chips during roulette games at several casinos.
He was also charged with stealing chips worth hundreds of pounds from other customers.
CCTV picked up on the casino cheat and presented it as evidence, but he refused to admit it was him.
"It seems to me that you were an accomplished and determined cheat, as what the CCTV from the casino in Baker Street showed was you cheating in four or five different ways throughout the course of a limited period of time," said the judge.
Sahami's 2006 application for asylum in the UK was turned down. He since sold his house in Iran and used the proceedings to fuel his gambling addiction, his lawyer said.
The cheat was jailed for just under a year.
