Fowl Play: Woman Stole $1.5M in Chicken Wings to Fund Gambling Addiction

One woman's bad actions are coming home to roost.

An attorney for Vera Liddell told PEOPLE that some $1.5 million in chicken wings were intended for underprivileged children receiving free lunches during the pandemic shutdown.  Instead, those funds were allegedly diverted for Ms. Liddell's gambling addiction.

This is Sourabh Patel reporting for Gambling911.com with today's crime blotter.

It's easy to pain Liddell (pictured below), a former Illinois school cafeteria consultant, as one bad egg.  But those who know her say Liddell fell prey to the evils of gambling addiction.

"She’s just a little sweetheart that’s got a gambling problem,” her attorney, Patrick O’Byrne, recently told PEOPLE. “She feels beyond terrible about this. This is totally uncharacteristic of her. It was the disease taking over.”

She's set to serve a rather egg-ceptional sentence for her bad deeds.  On Aug. 9, the 68-year-old woman pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft of more than $1 million and was sentenced to nine years in prison, according to the Cook County’s Sixth Municipal District Circuit Court clerk’s office.  OUCH!

Genting New York Casino License in Jeopardy Following Alleged Bad Behavior By Resorts World Vegas

Last week, The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a disciplinary complaint against Resorts World Las Vegas, accusing the hotel of damaging the reputation of Nevada and its gaming industry.

Resorts World Las Vegas is owned by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia gambling giant, Genting.

On Friday (16 August) Genting Berhad quickly released a brief statement in response to the anti-money laundering (AML) violations brought by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) last week.

Bookie Matthew Bowyer, 49, was among those said to have frequented the casino.  He is accused of taking bets  from more than 700 bettors, including Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who recently pleaded guilty to  tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from a bank account belonging to Ohtani.  A handful of other bookmakers, including a well known poker player, have been banned from Vegas casinos over the last year.

In the 31-page complaint filed on Thursday, the board claims that Resorts World and its parent companies allowed “a culture that welcomed certain individuals with suspected or actual ties to illegal bookmaking, histories of federal convictions related to illegal gambling, and ties to organized crime.”

The scandal could impact its chances of obtaining a lucrative New York casino license.

According to the firm, in the event the NGCB finds that RWLV has violated state laws or regulations, it may recommend that RWLV take certain measures to tighten its Anti-Money Laundering compliance programme and change certain key executives.

"Based on NGCB's complaint, we note there are allegedly about 300 separate violations, which may potentially result in a fine of US$7.5 million to US$75 million (RM33 million to RM332 million," said CIMB Securities.

The firm noted that RWLV's non-restricted gaming license could be limited, suspended or revoked.

"Some industry experts say that this is rare and the NGCB is unlikely to go that far, due to the uncertain long-term impact from taking such a drastic measure," it added.