Andrew Owen Ashley, 30, of Laleham Road, London SE6, employed as a problem analyst at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to one count of theft contrary to the Theft Act 1968 committed between 1 July 2007 and 12 September 2007.

Nimesh Bhagat, 31, of Laitwood Road, London SW12, employed as a Problem Analyst at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to one count of theft contrary to the Theft Act 1968 committed between 1 July 2007 and 12 September 2007.

The two men were also handed 200 hours of community service and will now have to pay back over £16,000 each.

This was a lengthy and complex investigation carried out by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) Clubs and Vice Unit in what is believed to be the first case of its kind involving computer mishandling for the UK gaming industry.

Ashley and Bhagat were employed as problem-solving analysts for a company providing IT solutions to a UK casino group.

Both men admitted theft from the casinos across London between 1 July 2007 and 7 September 2007 having used their knowledge of the casinos' IT system, illegally and against their own company policy, to make fraudulent claims for bets totaling over £33,000.

The fraud involved bets placed via the casinos' remote betting terminals. This is a system that enables customers to use any touch screen terminal within the casino to place bets on a roulette game, making it unnecessary to actually be present at the live roulette wheel.

Customers, who must be casino members, are required to insert cash into the terminal; this will then issue a ticket of 'credit' with which the virtual bet can be placed. After a win, the terminal issues a new ticket with the updated credit that can then be cashed at a cashier. Any payouts for over £500 also require the member's name to be written on the submitted winning ticket.

The investigation was launched in late August 2007 after a member of staff noticed a £600 win claimed by a customer who had only placed £10 into the machine - an impossible win when odds at roulette are 35/1. Further examination led to the discovery of a series of similar claims, and a pattern of ticket credits that detectives soon established were linked to the men.

Property, including computers seized at their addresses, proved that the men had used their knowledge of the casinos' and their own employer's IT systems to make the terminals produce tickets for large sums of credit for wins that in fact would not have been possible with the odds on the bets placed. Other evidence including video and audio footage placed at least one of the men at the exact casino terminals involved when the offences took place. On 10 February 2009 they were charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Detective Inspector Ann-Marie Waller from the MPS Clubs and Vice unit said: "This was a long and complex investigation into what I believe may be the first case of it's kind using IT systems to commit fraud within the gaming industry in the UK and if it hadn't been for vigilant staff within the casino the £33,000 might easily have rolled into hundreds of thousands."

"These men not only used their intimate knowledge of two complex systems to break the law and make these fraudulent claims; they also breached the trust of their employers and any semblance of professional integrity."