Crime

Caesars Palace Faces Up to $20 Mil in Fines as Part of Money Laundering Probe

Las Vegas (Associated Press) - Caesars Palace could face paying between $12 million and $20 million worth of fines stemming from a federal investigation into how the casino prevents or detects money laundering.

Officials with Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp. met with the federal agencies involved in the investigation on April 29 when settlement proposals were discussed.

The company mentioned the meeting under the header "other matters" in its third quarter financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jerusalem Post: Adelson Alleged Ties to Chinese Mafia Could Spell Downfall

Casino magnate, GOP megadonor and staunch supporter of the Israeli state, Sheldon Adelson, found himself in a Nevada court last week defending accusations of Chinese Mafia ties.  At once point during the testimony, questions were even raised as to whether the casino chairman had knowledge of a failed beheading plot. 

Former Navy Seal Sentenced for Investment Fraud Scheme: Spent Money Gambling

SAN DIEGO — (Associated Press) - A former U.S. Navy SEAL has been sentenced in San Diego for bilking people out of more than $1 million in an investment fraud scheme.

Jason Mullaney got six years and eight months in state prison Wednesday for fraud, grand theft and other crimes.

Prosecutors contend the 44-year-old Mullaney cheated at least 13 people — many of them former Navy SEALs — by convincing them he was using their investment money to make loans.

Chinese Officials Funding US Political Campaigns: Adelson Denies Ties

If big money donors really do make a difference in the U.S. political landscape, the next American President could be determined by….the Chinese?

Vietnamese Women Forced to Act as Drug Mules for Gambling Debt Forgiveness

A Swinburn University research study found that one in every five Vietnamese females serving time in Victoria, Australia prisons had been charged with drug offenses. 

The study delve deeper to reveal the vast majority of these women had to pay 10 per cent interest every week on loans, many of which were taken in order to pay off casino gambling debts ranging between $30,000 and $1 million.  The women were often used to transport illicit drugs on their person.

Legends Sports Founder Convicted of Running $1 Billion Sportsbook

On one of the biggest betting days of the year, Legends Sports founder and father of 7, Bartice “Luke” King of Spring, Texas has been convicted of running a $1 billion sports betting enterprise.

666Bet.com Making Some Payouts Following Disarray, Arrest

Some customers report receipt of payment from shuttered 666Bet.com following anxious weeks of waiting. 

The company has addressed the issue further by advising that customers will now need to open Skrill accounts in order to request withdrawals.

We are aware of the problem with pending withdrawals from March and are working a resolution to return balances to customer accounts asap.

Gambling Addicted Sons of True-Crime Writer Ann Rule Charged With Theft

Two sons of true-crime writer Ann Rule have been charged with allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from their ailing 83-year-old mother to help fuel their drug and gambling addictions.

Rule is the writer of over twenty crime books including “The Stranger Beside Me” about serial killer Ted Bundy.

China Targets Gambling Mecca Macau in Latest Corruption Crackdown

(Reuters) - China's fight against corruption has spread to the world's largest gambling hub, the former Portuguese colony of Macau, where seven people including government officials are being investigated for graft, including accepting bribes.

The developments are in stark contrast to last year, when no high-profile officials were questioned about bribery, according to the website of Macau's Commission Against Corruption. The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

First New England Mobster Sentenced to Life for ‘3 Strikes’ Rule Dies at 75

Notorious New England mobster Gerard "The Frenchman" Ouimette has died of lung cancer at the age of 75.

Mobster Tried to Sell Art from 1990 Museum Heist

HARTFORD, Conn. (Associated Press) -- A reputed mobster told an undercover FBI agent that he had access to two of the long-sought paintings stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and could negotiate a sale of each for $500,000, a prosecutor said Monday.

Robert Gentile, a 79-year-old convict from the Hartford, Connecticut, suburbs with a criminal record dating to the 1950s, allegedly made the offer following his release from prison a year ago, prosecutor John Durham said.

NatWest Manager Jailed for Stealing £185,000 to Fund Online Gambling Habit

A former NetWest manager, Glenn Mason, 56, has been jailed for plundering the accounts of nine pensioners including an 83 year-old woman and a 92 year-old man, all to the tune of £185,000.

Mason stole the funds in order to help fuel his online gambling habit.  He now must pay back every last penny.

Mason will serve 15 months behind bars.

Global Sports Betting Worth $3 Trillion, Most of it Illegal

(AFP) - The global sports betting market is worth up to $3-trillion, the vast majority of that generated by illegal gambling, a United Nations conference on crime being held in Doha heard on Wednesday.

Patrick Jay, a British-based independent betting expert, said around 65 per cent of that global figure was spent on football betting, with the Asian market the centre of sports gambling.

‘Honey Trap’ Gang Kicked Professional Poker Player to Death

Care assistant Leonie Granger, 25, has been convicted of manslaughter in the brutal murder of a professional poker player.

Granger set up a “honey trap” for 56-year-old Mehmet Hassan, who was kicked to death by her boyfriend, Kyrron Jackson, 28, and another man, Nicholas Chandler, 29.