Russian nationals accused of casino scheme

ST. LOUIS -- Four Russian nationals were indicted Wednesday on charges that they carried out a scheme to use smart phones and other electronics to cheat slot machines at casinos in three states, generating profits that may have reached seven figures.

The federal indictment returned by grand jurors in St. Louis charges Yevgeniy Nazarov, 38, Murat Bliev, 36, Ivan Gudalov, 32, and Igor Lavrenov, 28, with conspiracy and traveling in interstate and foreign commerce to further the plot involving gambling sites in Missouri, Illinois and California.

Court records do not specify how much the alleged scheme generated in winnings from the slot machines, though federal prosecutors have petitioned to seize more than $75,000 in cash believed to be linked to the plot they say lasted from last May until Sunday.

Richard Callahan, eastern Missouri's U.S. attorney, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the illegal winnings from the scheme he called "very sophisticated" were "certainly in the six figures" and possibly in the "seven figures." Callahan could not be reached by The Associated Press.

Authorities believe Bliev, Lavrenov and Gudalov reside in Moscow, while Nazarov is a U.S. citizen living in Miami.

During a court appearance Wednesday in St. Louis, a public defender was appointed for Nazarov, who remains jailed without bond pending a detention hearing Friday. A message left with the federal public defender's office was not immediately returned. Online court records don't show whether any of the other defendants have U.S. attorneys.

According to the indictment, the defendants routinely flew in to the U.S. from Moscow, using rental cars to travel to the casinos near St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Temecula, California.

Using smart phones and software linking them to an overseas server, the indictment claims, the defendants exploited technology that allowed them to predict the behavior of a certain make and model of slot machine game, scoring them "uncharacteristically large payouts" far exceeding those expected from fair play.

Each felony count is punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of as much as $250,000.