This couple has certainly earned the right to appear in the 2007 edition of "World's Dumbest Criminals."
(And yeah, yeah... I know I'm taking the easy way out by posting newspaper articles, but sometimes the 'real' news is as funny and odd - or moreso - as the stuff PR Gal and Dealer Guy come across on the job.) ------------
Aug. 14, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Phony money alleged
Indictment: Couple cheated Caesars
By ADRIENNE PACKER REVIEW-JOURNAL
It turns out there is some money that casinos don't want.
A Los Angeles couple was wrapping up a whirlwind weekend in Las Vegas last month when Caesars Palace security officers discovered the tourists had played thousands of dollars in counterfeit bills and cashed out to receive genuine cash, according to an Aug. 1 indictment. Chen Chiang Liu and Min Li Liu were charged with passing counterfeit $100 bills through slot machines at Caesars. They subsequently exchanged the comforts of their resort room for a jail cell.
The Lius possessed more than 400 counterfeit $100 bills when they visited Caesars Palace between July 26 and July 31, according to the indictment.
(PR Gal's Note: Get ready... Here comes the BEST part!)
The couple unwittingly helped security officers with their investigation. While stuffing counterfeit bills into slot machines, the pair played rewards cards, which, experts said, are tied into a database that includes personal information about each registrant, including each player's home address.
(PR Gal's Note: HA HA HA HA HA HA! Damn... My sides are splitting! Well, maybe not, but it's pretty frickin' hilarious - The dumbasses.)
"In this case, what I think got these people caught was their greed," said Douglas L. Florence Sr., a surveillance and gaming operations expert. "They wanted to get their points, and they wanted to get money. They narrowed down the list of suspects."
Caesars officials declined to comment on the investigation. But according to a federal complaint filed July 30, security officers identified 13 slot machines that accepted a total of 60 phony $100 bills. After discovering each machine was played with the same player's card, officers reviewed surveillance cameras and identified the couple.
Florence said any counterfeiter who passes the bills in a casino while using a player's card registered in his or her own name is either stupid with greed or "flat out wants to be caught."
The player's card launches investigators over one of their first hurdles and makes the next step that much easier. "It's now a matter of surveillance proving they put (counterfeit) money in," Florence said.
(PR Gal's Note: I vote for "stupid"... just... plain... "stupid.")
The Lius were stopped when they tried to leave Caesars on July 30, the complaint said. The U.S. Secret Service, which is tasked with handling of investigations regarding counterfeit money, was called in to help with the investigation.
Agents searched the Lius' Cadillac Escalade and found three red bags stuffed with about $30,000 in counterfeit $100 bills, the complaint said. Chen Chiang Liu told the Secret Service that the money was a debt an acquaintance paid back to him, according to the complaint.
Liu said he was unaware that the money was counterfeit.
Agents found $23,800 in genuine currency in Min Li Liu's makeup bag. They discovered an additional $2,900 in bona fide bills in her wallet.
"When asked why she was carrying an aggregate sum of $26,710 in genuine currency, Min Li Liu stated it was from game winnings, however Min Li Liu would not be specific about where or when the winnings occurred," the complaint said.
Min Li Liu also had in her possession tax receipts from jackpots she hit during the weekend. The total amount of winnings documented on the forms amounted to $17,600.
The government alleges the Lius used the fake cash to wager bets, then cashed out and received legitimate money. They also hit a few significant jackpots while playing with the bogus money or legitimate money they had obtained with the counterfeit money, according to the indictment.
Calls to federal public defender Arthur Allen, named in court documents as the Lius' attorney, were not returned.
According to the complaint, the couple used exceptionally high-quality counterfeit cash.
"Due to the high quality of this counterfeit, cash validators used in casino slot machines do not detect the counterfeit $100 Federal Reserve Notes," according to a federal complaint filed July 31.
Florence said the Caesars case is not the first time counterfeiters have hit Las Vegas casinos.
Florence captured a gang of visitors who fed slot machines at The Mirage counterfeit bills. They immediately cashed out and redeemed the coins for real money. He recovered $35,000 from the visitors' hotel room and the casino was reimbursed for the counterfeit play.
If suspects are never caught, the casinos have to absorb the loss, Florence said.
Bill validators on slot machines are not set to catch fake bills; if they were, genuine money that might be tattered would be rejected, said a gaming source who asked not to be named. Customer service would suffer if bills were routinely rejected.
The high-tech bill validators are located in the count room, where money handlers meticulously feed bills from slot boxes into a machine. Counterfeit bills are easily detected, the source said.
"We do catch it more often than not in the count room because the caliber of machine is cranked to the highest level," the source said.
Florence added that if the bills are found in the count room, security can direct surveillance cameras to the machines from which the phony money was collected. Criminals often return to the same machine because it accepted the fake bills the first time, he said.
Gamblers who try to pass counterfeit money in Las Vegas casinos are foolish, Florence said, because of the number of cameras set up throughout the casino floor. They are bound to be caught, he said.
According to the Secret Service, from April 24 through July 30, agents recovered about $80,000 worth of counterfeit bills that were passed through slot machines and cashed out for real bills. During that same period, agents recovered about $123,400 in distinctive counterfeit $100 bills from casinos and Las Vegas businesses, the complaint said.
Secret Service representatives declined to comment for this story, saying the investigation is ongoing. Ken Langdon, a spokesman for Caesars Palace, did not return phone messages.
-------Okay kids... Ya got that? Leave the Monopoly Money at home! Heh heh heh heh...
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Gotta Love those Casino Hosts!
Today's entry comes to us via a Las Vegas Review-Journal article and the AP, reprinted here for your entertainment.
Jul. 27, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Spending of mistress listed in complaint
Money used on expensive LV buys
By RYAN NAKASHIMA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The mistress of a Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of shipping illegal drug chemicals to Mexican cartels told authorities she used money he gave her to buy a million-dollar home, jewelry, luxury cars and factory equipment, court documents show.
Michele Wong, a 26-year-old former casino host at The Mirage, used $500,000 that Zhenli Ye Gon wired her to buy air conditioning units and transformers, which she shipped to his pharmaceutical plant in Mexico, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Wong also paid $1.1 million in cash for a Las Vegas home and bought two Mercedes-Benz cars after she said Ye Gon told her he was being blackmailed by drug dealers to launder "dirty money" in Las Vegas, the complaint said. Wong also is said to have purchased jewelry with money Ye Gon gave her.
"Ye Gon told Wong that the group instructed him to launder the money in Las Vegas and that he should gamble with the money and purchase high value items in Las Vegas," the complaint said.
Wong's Las Vegas house was at 2290 Casa Bella Court, near Durango Drive and Sahara Avenue. Using Ye Gon's money, she paid off the mortgage within about three months of its April 2006 purchase, the court document stated.
Authorities seized title records for the house that stated Wong put a $305,108 down payment on the house and obtained a $853,500 loan to cover the rest of the cost, according to court records.
Wong told authorities that Ye Gon last came to Las Vegas on March 9 on a flight from Orange County, Calif., on a private jet provided by The Venetian.
Ye Gon lost more than $125 million playing high stakes games in Las Vegas casinos since 2004, the complaint said.
Ye Gon, also known as "Charley Ye," was arrested Monday by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in a suburban Washington, D.C., restaurant. Authorities in March seized more than $207 million in cash and traveler's checks hidden in compartments at his Mexico City mansion.
Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora has said the cash seized at Ye Gon's home was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in making methamphetamine.
Mora said the ring had been operating since 2004, illegally importing the substance and selling it to a drug cartel that mixed it into the crystal form and exported it to the United States.
Ye Gon has said the chemicals imported by his company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, were legitimate and intended for use in prescription drugs to be made at a factory he was building in Toluca, just west of the Mexican capital.
Ye Gon's lawyers have said he has nothing to do with illegal drugs and is merely a victim of political corruption in Mexico.
Wong was arrested in Las Vegas on Monday and ordered to be detained and transported to Washington, D.C., to face felony money laundering and conspiracy charges in a federal court.
Wong first met Ye Gon in October 2004 when she was a casino host at The Mirage, and he was a high-rolling customer, the complaint said. Their relationship turned romantic a month after she was fired in January 2005.
She told authorities Ye Gon gave her up to $1.5 million over the course of their relationship, and that Ye Gon is the father of her 17-month-old son.
The allegations of money laundering were questioned by Nevada gambling regulators, who said strict procedures mandate extensive record keeping and require gamblers who bring large amounts of cash to take the same cash away with them if they win.
The $125 million Ye Gon lost seemed out of proportion to the perks and cash that he may have received as a standard "discount" on his losses, state Gaming Control Board member Mark Clayton said.
In addition to the flight on a private jet, The Venetian, one of Ye Gon's favorite resorts, gave him a Rolls-Royce, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
"It'd be one thing if I come in with a suitcase of $100 bills, I gamble for 20 minutes and then ask for a check. That would be a typical example of money laundering," Clayton said.
"But it's a pretty ineffective way to launder money by losing it all at the casino."
Review-Journal writer David Kihara contributed to this report.
-------Casino hosts aren't the most popular coworkers at any resort, so there's no love lost for anyone else in the business who happens to hear about that whole mess.
And... The only response from the five-star resort guys following the news of the bust of this particular high roller...? "Damn, there goes our tips!"
Jul. 27, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Spending of mistress listed in complaint
Money used on expensive LV buys
By RYAN NAKASHIMA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The mistress of a Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of shipping illegal drug chemicals to Mexican cartels told authorities she used money he gave her to buy a million-dollar home, jewelry, luxury cars and factory equipment, court documents show.
Michele Wong, a 26-year-old former casino host at The Mirage, used $500,000 that Zhenli Ye Gon wired her to buy air conditioning units and transformers, which she shipped to his pharmaceutical plant in Mexico, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Wong also paid $1.1 million in cash for a Las Vegas home and bought two Mercedes-Benz cars after she said Ye Gon told her he was being blackmailed by drug dealers to launder "dirty money" in Las Vegas, the complaint said. Wong also is said to have purchased jewelry with money Ye Gon gave her.
"Ye Gon told Wong that the group instructed him to launder the money in Las Vegas and that he should gamble with the money and purchase high value items in Las Vegas," the complaint said.
Wong's Las Vegas house was at 2290 Casa Bella Court, near Durango Drive and Sahara Avenue. Using Ye Gon's money, she paid off the mortgage within about three months of its April 2006 purchase, the court document stated.
Authorities seized title records for the house that stated Wong put a $305,108 down payment on the house and obtained a $853,500 loan to cover the rest of the cost, according to court records.
Wong told authorities that Ye Gon last came to Las Vegas on March 9 on a flight from Orange County, Calif., on a private jet provided by The Venetian.
Ye Gon lost more than $125 million playing high stakes games in Las Vegas casinos since 2004, the complaint said.
Ye Gon, also known as "Charley Ye," was arrested Monday by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in a suburban Washington, D.C., restaurant. Authorities in March seized more than $207 million in cash and traveler's checks hidden in compartments at his Mexico City mansion.
Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora has said the cash seized at Ye Gon's home was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in making methamphetamine.
Mora said the ring had been operating since 2004, illegally importing the substance and selling it to a drug cartel that mixed it into the crystal form and exported it to the United States.
Ye Gon has said the chemicals imported by his company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, were legitimate and intended for use in prescription drugs to be made at a factory he was building in Toluca, just west of the Mexican capital.
Ye Gon's lawyers have said he has nothing to do with illegal drugs and is merely a victim of political corruption in Mexico.
Wong was arrested in Las Vegas on Monday and ordered to be detained and transported to Washington, D.C., to face felony money laundering and conspiracy charges in a federal court.
Wong first met Ye Gon in October 2004 when she was a casino host at The Mirage, and he was a high-rolling customer, the complaint said. Their relationship turned romantic a month after she was fired in January 2005.
She told authorities Ye Gon gave her up to $1.5 million over the course of their relationship, and that Ye Gon is the father of her 17-month-old son.
The allegations of money laundering were questioned by Nevada gambling regulators, who said strict procedures mandate extensive record keeping and require gamblers who bring large amounts of cash to take the same cash away with them if they win.
The $125 million Ye Gon lost seemed out of proportion to the perks and cash that he may have received as a standard "discount" on his losses, state Gaming Control Board member Mark Clayton said.
In addition to the flight on a private jet, The Venetian, one of Ye Gon's favorite resorts, gave him a Rolls-Royce, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
"It'd be one thing if I come in with a suitcase of $100 bills, I gamble for 20 minutes and then ask for a check. That would be a typical example of money laundering," Clayton said.
"But it's a pretty ineffective way to launder money by losing it all at the casino."
Review-Journal writer David Kihara contributed to this report.
-------Casino hosts aren't the most popular coworkers at any resort, so there's no love lost for anyone else in the business who happens to hear about that whole mess.
And... The only response from the five-star resort guys following the news of the bust of this particular high roller...? "Damn, there goes our tips!"
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Meanwhile, Back at the Five-Star Resort...
Dealer Guy's Saturday, while not one of the most exciting or hilarious or ridiculous shifts ever, did have it's share of high points... and low.
Bear in mind, kids... He works at one of the five or so resorts (will I name it specifically...? Are you kidding?? HA!) considered to be the creme de la creme of Las Vegas. Customers have high expectations... even as they're acting like fools, snobs or rude jerks. Oh yes, there are the decent types that come to play, too, but are they as entertaining? Not usually. It's the fools, snobs and rude jerks you'll mostly hear about on this blog.
Craps... a simply divine word for a game of chance... CRAPS. Yesterday, the table was full of 22-year-old fools with limited skills nor luck, and with even further limited vocabularies or imagination. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!" They screamed all day... And Dealer Guy came home half deaf in one ear. I asked if he did, indeed, show them the money. "Oh, hell no" was the cheerful response. (Dealer Guy gets a jolly or two when the fools lose. Can't really blame his deaf self.)
Celebrities - A bastion of honest, caring and lovely adult people, right? Well, yeah, I know... Not exactly, is it? And these people LOVE Las Vegas. They come to play, they come to win - they hope - and they come to... cheat or at least ATTEMPT to cheat. That's part of the thrill of gambling - to see just what they can get away with. (The old days of cheaters' arms being broken over a curb behind Binion's downtown are pretty much over now.) The five-star resort guys had a celebrity at the Craps table last night. He was betting around $200 a shot and pressing it up as the dice continued to roll. The gentleman was also trying his best to cheat; however, the five-star guys are on top of the game - especially against a fool. Don't be trying to move your chips to a more favorable spot on the layout when there are four sets of eyes watching you. The celebrity-level fool lost yesterday, too.
Eventually, the CRAPS table emptied of players, leaving the five-star resort guys to their own crappy devices. Yes, kids... These grown men, some of the best in their profession... play fart tricks on each other. (Do I push my embarrassment aside and go on? Yeah, I do. Dealer Guy shared this brief tale with me over lunch yesterday, so I'm not going to shy away from sharing it with you) . Dealer Guy and his buddies - men who will be boys - are pros at this game, too... childish and gross as it is.
Dealer Guy "owed one" to the buddy who shall be known as "Jimmy." Good ol' Jimmy was on a 20-minute break that began just as Dealer Guy realized he had a "really BAD one" ready to cut loose. So, what's a guy to do? Save it. Keep it "on the edge" and ready to rip at the moment Jimmy returns to the CRAPS table. While we're waiting, I'll let you know that the last time Jimmy received pay-back, Dealer Guy nailed him with a nasty one while walking up the stairs... right in front of his "friend's" face. Nice. Funny though, Dealer Guy has a tendency to not tell me about the moments when he, himself, is the victim. No bragging rights in that, I guess.
So, the twenty minutes passed and Jimmy returned to the crew. Dealer Guy proudly announces, "Hey Jimmy, I've got one for ya!" And the fart heard 'round the resort ripped forth from the black dress slacks, followed by groans of happy disgust emitting from all present. The guys love this stuff. They'd award trophies if they could. I ask Dealer Guy, "What if a customer had walked up just then." His well-thought-out response... "So?"
Remember the fart games, kids, the next time you step into one of Las Vegas' multi-billion dollar luxury resorts. Some of the 'finer' details aren't much different than Circus Circus.
Bear in mind, kids... He works at one of the five or so resorts (will I name it specifically...? Are you kidding?? HA!) considered to be the creme de la creme of Las Vegas. Customers have high expectations... even as they're acting like fools, snobs or rude jerks. Oh yes, there are the decent types that come to play, too, but are they as entertaining? Not usually. It's the fools, snobs and rude jerks you'll mostly hear about on this blog.
Craps... a simply divine word for a game of chance... CRAPS. Yesterday, the table was full of 22-year-old fools with limited skills nor luck, and with even further limited vocabularies or imagination. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!" They screamed all day... And Dealer Guy came home half deaf in one ear. I asked if he did, indeed, show them the money. "Oh, hell no" was the cheerful response. (Dealer Guy gets a jolly or two when the fools lose. Can't really blame his deaf self.)
Celebrities - A bastion of honest, caring and lovely adult people, right? Well, yeah, I know... Not exactly, is it? And these people LOVE Las Vegas. They come to play, they come to win - they hope - and they come to... cheat or at least ATTEMPT to cheat. That's part of the thrill of gambling - to see just what they can get away with. (The old days of cheaters' arms being broken over a curb behind Binion's downtown are pretty much over now.) The five-star resort guys had a celebrity at the Craps table last night. He was betting around $200 a shot and pressing it up as the dice continued to roll. The gentleman was also trying his best to cheat; however, the five-star guys are on top of the game - especially against a fool. Don't be trying to move your chips to a more favorable spot on the layout when there are four sets of eyes watching you. The celebrity-level fool lost yesterday, too.
Eventually, the CRAPS table emptied of players, leaving the five-star resort guys to their own crappy devices. Yes, kids... These grown men, some of the best in their profession... play fart tricks on each other. (Do I push my embarrassment aside and go on? Yeah, I do. Dealer Guy shared this brief tale with me over lunch yesterday, so I'm not going to shy away from sharing it with you) . Dealer Guy and his buddies - men who will be boys - are pros at this game, too... childish and gross as it is.
Dealer Guy "owed one" to the buddy who shall be known as "Jimmy." Good ol' Jimmy was on a 20-minute break that began just as Dealer Guy realized he had a "really BAD one" ready to cut loose. So, what's a guy to do? Save it. Keep it "on the edge" and ready to rip at the moment Jimmy returns to the CRAPS table. While we're waiting, I'll let you know that the last time Jimmy received pay-back, Dealer Guy nailed him with a nasty one while walking up the stairs... right in front of his "friend's" face. Nice. Funny though, Dealer Guy has a tendency to not tell me about the moments when he, himself, is the victim. No bragging rights in that, I guess.
So, the twenty minutes passed and Jimmy returned to the crew. Dealer Guy proudly announces, "Hey Jimmy, I've got one for ya!" And the fart heard 'round the resort ripped forth from the black dress slacks, followed by groans of happy disgust emitting from all present. The guys love this stuff. They'd award trophies if they could. I ask Dealer Guy, "What if a customer had walked up just then." His well-thought-out response... "So?"
Remember the fart games, kids, the next time you step into one of Las Vegas' multi-billion dollar luxury resorts. Some of the 'finer' details aren't much different than Circus Circus.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Hanging on the Mid-Level Rungs of the Corporate Ladder
Yes, some days it definitely feels like I'm 'hanging' there. Technically, I'm a low-level management 'professional;' a company-minded, raise-the-roof 'rah-rah' for the troops. On days like today, I'd prefer being one of troops. Heaven knows they make more $$ than I do, so I'd have to be nuts not to be a bit envious - especially when I'm putting up with B.S. from my so-called "peers."
Once again, I was asked to perform a task I've done a million times, but for some unknown, i.e., stupid, reason the request came through a third party because the requester had no friggin' idea what my specialty happens to be. (Yeah, this is vague... Who the hell knows if my coworkers might stumble onto this blog and then kick my ass for it...) My revenge...? Wrap up the assignment quickly and proficiently, and then throw it in the face of the requester. Yeah, there was a sense of satisfaction in that... "See, dumbass? This IS what I do for a living, so next time flippin' ask me directly, okay?" kinda way.
Keeps everyone happy in the long run, I suppose. But will anything change before it happens again? I haven't the foggiest idea. In the meantime, I'll log today's accomplishment onto my ridiculous 'goals made and met' sheet for review at the end of the year so I can collect my measly 2.5% increase for 2008.
Yes... On days like this, I tend to long for the past... When I wrapped up for the day and that was it. No baggage. No leftovers. Less money, but fewer hassles.
Let's all work to get ahead, kids! Or not.
Once again, I was asked to perform a task I've done a million times, but for some unknown, i.e., stupid, reason the request came through a third party because the requester had no friggin' idea what my specialty happens to be. (Yeah, this is vague... Who the hell knows if my coworkers might stumble onto this blog and then kick my ass for it...) My revenge...? Wrap up the assignment quickly and proficiently, and then throw it in the face of the requester. Yeah, there was a sense of satisfaction in that... "See, dumbass? This IS what I do for a living, so next time flippin' ask me directly, okay?" kinda way.
Keeps everyone happy in the long run, I suppose. But will anything change before it happens again? I haven't the foggiest idea. In the meantime, I'll log today's accomplishment onto my ridiculous 'goals made and met' sheet for review at the end of the year so I can collect my measly 2.5% increase for 2008.
Yes... On days like this, I tend to long for the past... When I wrapped up for the day and that was it. No baggage. No leftovers. Less money, but fewer hassles.
Let's all work to get ahead, kids! Or not.
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