Gang arrested in Moscow for slot machine hacking

MOSCOW, December 21 (RIA Novosti) - Several hacker suspects have been arrested in Moscow on suspicions of breaking codes in slot machines, a Russian Interior Ministry official said Wednesday.

Filipp Zolotnitsky, spokesman for the ministry's economic crime department, said the detainees had been caught red-handed in one of Moscow's gambling spots and that all of them were believed to be members of a criminal gang led by a Georgian national.

The suspected hackers allegedly reprogrammed four or five gaming machines across Moscow each night, raking in an average of $25,000 from every round, Zolotnitsky said.

Security personnel and administrators reportedly allowed them to remove microchips from the machines in exchange for substantial bribes.