Fraud at the Chaudfontaine casino: three employees sentenced
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16 Feb 2026 •
Reading time: 4 minutes
Three former employees of the Chaudfontaine casino have been sentenced by the courts after setting up a system for misappropriating high-value gaming plaques. The facts came to light following an internal audit and were confirmed by video surveillance images and the confessions of those involved.
An affair that shakes confidence
The story could have remained one of ordinary recruitment in a reputable gaming establishment. But in the end, it turned into a court case emblematic of the possible abuses that can occur when the temptation of fast money enters the backstage area of a casino. After several months of investigation and hearings, the courts have reached a verdict: three former employees of the Casino de Chaudfontaine have been convicted by the Liège Criminal Court of organising a scheme to misappropriate gaming plates.
How the crime was committed
It all began on 9 July 2023. Three men aged between 25 and 33 from Pepinster, Amay and Soumagne attended an information evening organised by the casino. They were hired and given two months’ training to become croupiers.
The three newly-trained colleagues believed they had identified a technical flaw in the material organisation of the gaming tables. The system was based on a very specific item: high-value gaming chips, estimated at €1,000 each. Unlike traditional tokens, these plates follow a strict circuit and are not supposed to pass through certain machines, particularly automatic sorters. It was precisely this incompatibility that was exploited.
Between 17 and 23 August 2024, two croupiers assigned to an American roulette table allegedly deliberately dropped several plates into the opening of the sorter, located at table height. A seemingly harmless gesture, but one that caused the plates to get stuck at the bottom of the machine, outside the normal control circuit. Eight plates were hidden in this way.
A third off-duty employee then intervened. Using a special key that he was never authorised to use, he would open the sorter and discreetly retrieve the trapped plates.
However, the money could not be cashed directly by the employees. To give the appearance of a legitimate profit, they would have solicited a customer.
The man went to the cashier to exchange the plates for cash, as if he had won them at the table. According to the statements made at the trial, the man thought he was simply making tips. In exchange, he received a commission of between €50 and €150 per plate. The court did not prosecute him, considering that he was not aware that he was participating in a fraud.
The case came to a head on the night of 5 September 2024. A technician discovered several plates stuck in a sorter – a situation described as totally abnormal, as the machine was not designed to handle them. Alerted, management examined the CCTV footage. The recordings show an employee handling the machine outside of any authorised task.
A disputed loss, an unusual demonstration in court
At the hearing, the casino’s lawyer put forward an estimated loss of €40,000, citing not only the value of the plates but also a drop in turnover in August. To give a concrete illustration of the method used, the plaintiff went so far as to set up a gaming table in the courtroom. A croupier was even present to explain to the president the precise operation of the manipulations.
The defence vigorously contested the financial assessment, arguing that other factors could explain the change in the casino’s business. The defendants admitted the facts, but played down the amounts involved. One defendant mentioned between €4,000 and €6,000, another spoke of two or three plates, while the third admitted to having slipped three to six plates.
After examining the confessions and images, the court decided that the amount embezzled was 15,000 euros.
The president emphasised that the process was still imperfect, refusing to classify the acts as criminal conspiracy. The fraud, although concerted, was not sufficiently structured or long term to amount to an elaborate criminal organisation.
The main perpetrator was sentenced to 60 hours’ work. His two former colleagues were each sentenced to 80 hours. If these hours are not served, they will automatically be converted into eight months’ imprisonment.