On March 6th, four armed gunmen stormed the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Berlin event and attacked the tournament’s registration area. On Sunday, the alleged mastermind behind the rare casino attack was taken into custody.
Bluff Europe quoted Berlin police officials’ explanation of the 28 year-old Lebanese man’s involvement: “According to the current state of our investigation, the suspect is thought to have been the organizer… He also drove the getaway car.” The latter ride was a posh Mercedes and, according to early reports, the suspects escaped through a local shopping mall adjacent to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the German city.
American poker pro Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee took down the EPT Berlin Main Event to the tune of €1 million. Also making out with a nice payday were the four suspects, who purportedly divvied up the €242,000 in stolen loot equally. CBS officials contacted MacPhee prior to his win and the young pro appeared on the network’s “Early Show” to relive his harrowing experience. Play was paused for several hours while tournament officials regrouped following the melee.
The first suspect to fall into police custody promptly ratted out all three of his accomplices. The trio was also apprehended, as Ahmad el-Awayti, Jihad Khaled Chetwie, and Mustafa Ucarkus all saw their dreams of hiding out from the law dashed. The latter two were arrested at Berlin’s Tegel Airport on Sunday. Last Wednesday, el-Awayti was arrested in a subway station and brought into custody without incident.
According to the Gaming Intelligence Group (GIG) and other sources, the Lebanese man was also arrested on Sunday. A GIG article added that, despite five of the major players in the incident being apprehended, the location of the cash remains unknown: “There is still no trace, however, of the estimated €240,000 cash stolen from the poker tournament.” The amount could have been more, but the amateur robbers dropped a bag containing a reported €500,000 in the hotel.
A man dubbed “Mohammed B.” was taken into custody one week following the EPT Berlin heist, but was freed due to lack of evidence. It is not clear if the 28 year-old Lebanese man is the same “Mohammed B.”
In the wake of the robbery, security at the ongoing EPT Snowfest has been heightened to ensure that a repeat incident does not occur. The Austrian poker event drew a starting grid of 546 entrants and the top 80 players will finish in the money. The tournament’s final man or woman standing will collect €445,000. Among those who turned out for the first ever EPT Snowfest were Team PokerStars Pro members Daniel Negreanu, Chad Brown, Dario Minieri, and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the EPT Berlin robbery.
