Poker Players Been Caught Stealing

In as little as three days, Mohammed Imran and Mohammed Irfan obtained over £150,000 from cash machines. Although the motive to steal such an obscene amount of cash may be obvious, these two masterminds needed the money to fund a massive gambling spree in Vegas.

The two men are passionate poker players with a dream of competing in a series of high-stake tournaments including the Annual World Series of Poker in the Vegas Rio Hotel. Imran, 33, and Irfan, 36, competed regularly in Vegas and were once rated among the top poker players in the country.

The Crime
Due to a glitch in the system, the accused overcame the security of ATMs by using an expired Halifax Bank of Scotland keycard.

After the banks became aware of the scandal, the keycard was traced to Shahana Shad, the sister-in-law of one of the accused.

Shahana admitted to being a customer of the bank, but denies any connection to the scandal. She claims to have never even received the card.

The suspicion later fell on Imran and Irfan. Their homes were investigated by the police where a total of £14,480 was found in a safe belonging to Imran. Another £140,160 was discovered in Irfan's safe.

The Trial
The duo faces jail after admitting to stealing £154,640, although they were originally on trial for a much higher sum, namely £500,000. The court had discovered that several hundred withdrawals were from ATMs across Glasgow between the dates of May 29th and June 1st , 2005.

Imran Bashir, the prosecutor, said that a member of staff at either the Riverboat Casino or Hot Shots nightclub in Glasgow had revealed the fault to the accused.

Sheriff Robert Anthony QC deferred sentencing until later this month for reports.

Lesson Learnt
There is no justification for the actions of these two felons.

"You need serious cash to take on some of these guys in Las Vegas,” informs a source working closely with the police, “an opportunity to get involved in a scam like this was a godsend for Imran and Irfan. The cash could have gone a long way but, in this case, it was just one very big gamble too far and they lost out - big time."