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Casino Owner And Strip Club Probe
1/8/04
New details have emerged about the relationship between a topless bar owner under investigation and one of the new owners of the Golden Nugget Casino. During Gaming Control Board hearings, Tim Poster was grilled about his dealings with Rick Rizzolo, owner of the Crazy Horse Too topless club, the subject of a federal probe. News 3 Investigator Glen Meek reports that probe could impact licensing for the Golden Nugget's new owners.
It's already had one effect. Regulators are only recommending only a limited license for the Golden Nugget at this point. This, after tough questioning from a former FBI agent revealed that one of the owners was secretly recorded by FBI agents during the federal probe of the Crazy Horse Too. Las Vegas Entrepreneurs Tim Poster and Thomas Brietling sought the blessing of the Gaming Control Board as new owners of the Golden Nugget downtown. But the hearing became tense when Board Member Bobby Siller, former head of the Las Vegas FBI, gave Poster a tongue lashing for his relationship with Rick Rizzolo, proprietor of the Crazy Horse Too topless bar, which was the target of an FBI raid in February.
"I am also very knowledgeable regarding some of the criminal elements here and those with unsuitable or shady type backgrounds, so I'm very familiar with this Mr. Rick Rizzolo." During Siller's tough questioning, Poster acknowledged he had once been a frequent dinner companion and gambling buddy of Rizzolo, and occasionally borrowed money from the bar owner. "Whenever I borrowed money from Mr. Rizzolo, it was always for the purpose of gambling. We had been out gambling together and a variety of circumstances might have arisen in which either I did not have a credit line at the particular casino we were at, or I would have exhausted mine and I used his credit line to use money to gamble with."
It was also learned Poster was interviewed by the FBI about a conversation he had with Rizzolo over a friend of Rizzolo's, who owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on a casino marker. The conversation was intercepted by an FBI wiretap.
"Was there a comment in this conversation, this intercept, where either you or Mr. Rizzolo stated, 'is it safe to talk on the telephone?'"
"The FBI told me that that is something that I said, I have no recollection of that at all."
Poster admitted poor judgment, said he'd severed all ties with Rizzolo and assured the board he'd done nothing illegal or embarrassing. Siller said Poster and his partner may have narrowly avoided getting caught up in something unpleasant. "When you have all these on going FBI investigations and searches, and trust me, this is my judgment, they will come to some type of conclusion and they won't be pleasant."
The gaming board did recommend licensing for Mr. Poster and his partner Mr. Brietling, but only for one year. But that's only a recommendation. The Gaming Control Commission has the final say, and they are set to vote on the license in two weeks. The lawyer for Rick Rizzolo says it's a disgrace what Bobby Siller said about the topless bar owner. Attorney Anthony Sgro compared Siller's remarks to tactics used by Nazis in World War Two. He says it reflects frustration by federal agents who've been unable to find any wrong doing by his client.
Casino Owner And Strip Club Probe
1/8/04
New details have emerged about the relationship between a topless bar owner under investigation and one of the new owners of the Golden Nugget Casino. During Gaming Control Board hearings, Tim Poster was grilled about his dealings with Rick Rizzolo, owner of the Crazy Horse Too topless club, the subject of a federal probe. News 3 Investigator Glen Meek reports that probe could impact licensing for the Golden Nugget's new owners.
It's already had one effect. Regulators are only recommending only a limited license for the Golden Nugget at this point. This, after tough questioning from a former FBI agent revealed that one of the owners was secretly recorded by FBI agents during the federal probe of the Crazy Horse Too. Las Vegas Entrepreneurs Tim Poster and Thomas Brietling sought the blessing of the Gaming Control Board as new owners of the Golden Nugget downtown. But the hearing became tense when Board Member Bobby Siller, former head of the Las Vegas FBI, gave Poster a tongue lashing for his relationship with Rick Rizzolo, proprietor of the Crazy Horse Too topless bar, which was the target of an FBI raid in February.
"I am also very knowledgeable regarding some of the criminal elements here and those with unsuitable or shady type backgrounds, so I'm very familiar with this Mr. Rick Rizzolo." During Siller's tough questioning, Poster acknowledged he had once been a frequent dinner companion and gambling buddy of Rizzolo, and occasionally borrowed money from the bar owner. "Whenever I borrowed money from Mr. Rizzolo, it was always for the purpose of gambling. We had been out gambling together and a variety of circumstances might have arisen in which either I did not have a credit line at the particular casino we were at, or I would have exhausted mine and I used his credit line to use money to gamble with."
It was also learned Poster was interviewed by the FBI about a conversation he had with Rizzolo over a friend of Rizzolo's, who owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on a casino marker. The conversation was intercepted by an FBI wiretap.
"Was there a comment in this conversation, this intercept, where either you or Mr. Rizzolo stated, 'is it safe to talk on the telephone?'"
"The FBI told me that that is something that I said, I have no recollection of that at all."
Poster admitted poor judgment, said he'd severed all ties with Rizzolo and assured the board he'd done nothing illegal or embarrassing. Siller said Poster and his partner may have narrowly avoided getting caught up in something unpleasant. "When you have all these on going FBI investigations and searches, and trust me, this is my judgment, they will come to some type of conclusion and they won't be pleasant."
The gaming board did recommend licensing for Mr. Poster and his partner Mr. Brietling, but only for one year. But that's only a recommendation. The Gaming Control Commission has the final say, and they are set to vote on the license in two weeks. The lawyer for Rick Rizzolo says it's a disgrace what Bobby Siller said about the topless bar owner. Attorney Anthony Sgro compared Siller's remarks to tactics used by Nazis in World War Two. He says it reflects frustration by federal agents who've been unable to find any wrong doing by his client.