Casinos cheated out of millions
SAN DIEGO -- A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday charged 19 people with cheating 18 casinos in several states and Canada out of millions of dollars by using technology and bribes to rig card games.
The indictment alleges the racketeering enterprise lasted from March 2002 until the grand jury handed up its charges on Tuesday.
The scheme netted $3.3 million from U.S. casinos, according to the indictment. However, interim U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt in San Diego said the actual losses could be much higher.
The losses included $868,000 won in 90 minutes in October 2005 at the Resorts East Chicago hotel and casino in East Chicago, Ind.
Casinos in Ontario, Canada, may have lost $2 million, said Rob Knudsen, director of the gaming enforcement branch of the Ontario Provincial Police.
In addition to the Canadian casinos, the alleged scheme targeted gaming parlors in California, Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Washington state, Indiana and Connecticut.
Ten casinos were owned by American Indian tribes.
"We are not aware of any other cases of this magnitude," said Kathy Leodler, acting head of the San Diego FBI field office.
The group allegedly used "false shuffle" cheating schemes during blackjack and minibaccarat games, the U.S. attorney's office said.
The scheme involved bribes to casino supervisors and card dealers and use of blocks of unshuffled cards, the indictment alleged.
Members of the organization allegedly would signal a card dealer to do a false shuffle and then bet on the known order of the cards.
The indictment also alleged that the ring used hidden transmitters and special software to predict the order in which cards would appear.
The charges range from conspiracy to money laundering. They carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison. All but three of the 19 people are in federal custody.
A dozen were arrested in San Diego and two others were expected to surrender there. Two others were arrested in Ontario, Canada.
Thirteen other people also were arrested in the same sweep in Ontario and were expected to face charges there, said Knudsen of the Ontario Provincial Police.
In addition, several of those arrested in San Diego were among a dozen people indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington.
A pair of indictments unsealed on Thursday charged them with card-cheating.
