Four Hague men sentenced for €14,000 Queens Casino theft

A police court in the Netherlands has sentenced four men from The Hague to community service for stealing €14,000 from Queens Casino, according to a report relayed by the AD. One defendant received 40 hours of community service and the other three 100 hours each. The court hearing took place without the defendants present; only their lawyers attended.

The theft took place between 27 April and 8 May 2024 at the Queens Casino branch on Brasserskade. According to the public prosecutor, the men used a falsified AirTag resembling those carried by casino staff, which gives personnel access to gaming machines, and a smartphone equipped with special software. The prosecutor said the men broke into the gaming systems several times and paid out winnings to themselves that did not exist.

The men drew attention after one of them behaved oddly at a roulette table. A casino employee saw him fiddling in a suspicious manner, spoke to him, and the man then went to the toilet and left the casino, leaving the tag behind in the toilet area. The casino reported the matter to the police, who investigated the login attempts. Data showed that non-employees had logged into the gaming system menu several times, and camera footage showed the defendants operating alone or in pairs and making a swinging motion with an object above the game displays before coins were collected, according to the prosecutor.

The public prosecutor had sought custodial sentences of between four and six weeks. Three defendants chose to remain silent with the police and a fourth denied everything. The police court found that there had been cooperation in which a considerable amount of money was stolen, and instead of the custodial sentences sought it imposed community service.