The court heard how the defendant in the case stole over 800,000 euros after exploiting a software flaw to hack into the computer systems of two international online casinos.

The District Court of Central Finland has found William Anthony Parker guilty of aggravated online casino fraud and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.

Parker, a British citizen, was detained by police in Central Finland in January on suspicion he had exploited a software flaw to hack into the computer systems of two international online casinos.

The court ordered him to forfeit the proceeds of his crimes — estimated by police to be about 835,000 euros — to the Finnish state.

Parker’s assets, which also included more than 9,000 euros in cash as well as 100 gold coins found in his possession, had been frozen during the course of the preliminary investigation.

The prosecution had demanded a prison sentence of more than three years.

The court’s verdict in the case is not final, meaning that the ruling is still subject to appeal.