The Colony Sports Club was a London gambling casino operated by American Cosa Nostra mobsters Meyer Lansky

Meyer Lansky

Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...

 and Philadelphia crime family

Philadelphia crime family

The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Scarfo crime family, Bruno crime family, Philadelphia Mafia, or Philly Mob, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most active American Mafia families outside of the Five Families of New York...

 boss Angelo Bruno

Angelo Bruno

Angelo "The Gentle Don" Bruno was a Sicilian-American mobster who ran the Philadelphia crime family for two decades. Bruno gained his nickname and reputation due to his preference for conciliation over violence.-Early years:Born in Villalba, Sicily, Bruno emigrated to the United States in his...

, through front man George Raft

George Raft

George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...

,and low level English Gambler Alfred Salkin, who Cellini had met at another large London Casino,and was used as the English front man during the 1960s.

Following the end of syndicate gambling operations in Havana by the Castro government in 1959, Lansky sought to expand his operations elsewhere. With the legalization of gambling in Great Britain, Lansky opened a number of high class gambling casinos with Bruno, including the Colony Sports Casino, throughout London during the early 1960s.

However, following an investigation by Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

, a number of casino employees including American actor George Raft

George Raft

George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...

, New York mobster Dino Cellini

Dino Cellini

Dino Cellini, ran casinos for New York mobster Meyer Lansky in Havana, Cuba during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Cellini later ran casinos in the Bahamas and the United Kingdom.-Early years:...

, Joey Napolitano, Boston Cosa Nostra mobster Richard Castucci

Richard Castucci

Richard J. Castucci was an Italian-American member of the Boston Winter Hill Gang who owned several strip clubs and was involved in illegal gambling...

and others were deported after finding evidence of rigging games as well as their ties to organized crime figures in New York.