Money laundering
The explosive growth of casinos, especially in the Midwest, has provided drug traffickers and other criminals with a ready list of places to launder their cash.
Money laundering is the conversion of money derived from criminal activity to hide its illegal origin. Criminals who deal in large sums of cash, such as drug dealers, are drawn to casinos because they may open accounts under their names there discretely, and it's perfectly legal.
Money deposited in these accounts can be used to pay down gambling debts, obtain credit for future gambling sessions or make withdrawals, while the account holder receives the same red-carpet treatment given to high rollers.
"Casinos can play a significant role in money laundering," said Miriam Miquelon, the U.S. attorney for Southern Illinois, who successfully prosecuted Belleville businessman Thomas Venezia and other defendants who operated an illegal gambling ring in the metro-east.
Illinois riverboat casinos are especially vulnerable because they have no loss limits, which means drug traffickers gamble away tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes against their casino accounts.
In contrast, gamblers on Missouri boats may lose a maximum of $500 every two hours.
The absence of loss limits is a major reason St. Louis-area drug dealers flock to the Alton Belle and Casino Queen, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Holtshouser, who works out of the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.
"When you're in St. Louis and you've got a choice between Missouri and Illinois, if you're trying to launder money, you might choose Illinois," Holtshouser said.
Keep 'em coming back
Casinos court their best customers with an escalating system of freebies, or "comps," such as free hotel rooms and limousines.
The pinnacle, the vintage Mercedes-Benz the Alton Belle gave to Roberts in 1999, was a way of sealing his loyalty, keeping his business there.
But the Alton Belle was helpful in other ways.
As Roberts' land scam began building steam, he used the Alton casino as his private bank between 1998 and 2000, his court file shows.
Roberts moved hundreds of thousands of dollars entrusted to him by his investors in and out of an account at the casino under his name, according to FBI documents.
Roberts deposited checks from investors into an account at a St. Louis bank. Then he would have the bank issue cashiers' checks in smaller amounts, according to the FBI affidavit filed by special agent Howard Marshall.
"Many of these checks are then taken to the Alton Belle Casino, where they are deposited and used by Roberts, either to pay down his marker (his gambling debt) or for gambling activity," Marshall wrote.
He later would withdraw as much as $100,000 at a time from the casino account, bankrolling his tastes in jewelry, watches, cars and Italian-made suits, court records show.
Brian Watts, the Alton Belle casino manager, testified during Roberts' April 2001 sentencing hearing that Roberts' losses mattered greatly to the casino's bottom line.
"Oh, yeah, I've seen him lose $80,000 in 10 minutes," Watts said. "If Ron had a good month or a bad month, his play was so large that it would swing whether or not we beat last month's numbers."
Casino staff were assigned to keep a close eye on Roberts, whose erratic behavior became harder to ignore.
"He would say, 'I lost because you put this dealer here.' Or, 'I lost because you sent this dealer to break too soon,'" Watts said.
Roberts' arrest by federal agents in April 2000 put a dent in the Alton Belle's bottom line.
"So Ron was no longer playing on our property," Watts said. "We did not have a good month" that month.
U.S. District Judge Richard Webber sentenced Roberts to nearly 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay more than $14 million in restitution. He also ordered Roberts to receive treatment for his gambling problem.
Roberts, now an inmate at the federal penitentiary in Marion, refused repeated interview requests.
In late November 2002, Roberts wrote to Webber pleading for permission to visit his dying mother. His request was denied.
In the letter, Roberts expressed remorse for his crimes, explaining: "We made some huge mistakes with other people's money. I got so heavily involved with gambling because I tried so hard to pay a lot of the investors' money back."
http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/6039313.htm
The explosive growth of casinos, especially in the Midwest, has provided drug traffickers and other criminals with a ready list of places to launder their cash.
Money laundering is the conversion of money derived from criminal activity to hide its illegal origin. Criminals who deal in large sums of cash, such as drug dealers, are drawn to casinos because they may open accounts under their names there discretely, and it's perfectly legal.
Money deposited in these accounts can be used to pay down gambling debts, obtain credit for future gambling sessions or make withdrawals, while the account holder receives the same red-carpet treatment given to high rollers.
"Casinos can play a significant role in money laundering," said Miriam Miquelon, the U.S. attorney for Southern Illinois, who successfully prosecuted Belleville businessman Thomas Venezia and other defendants who operated an illegal gambling ring in the metro-east.
Illinois riverboat casinos are especially vulnerable because they have no loss limits, which means drug traffickers gamble away tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes against their casino accounts.
In contrast, gamblers on Missouri boats may lose a maximum of $500 every two hours.
The absence of loss limits is a major reason St. Louis-area drug dealers flock to the Alton Belle and Casino Queen, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Holtshouser, who works out of the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.
"When you're in St. Louis and you've got a choice between Missouri and Illinois, if you're trying to launder money, you might choose Illinois," Holtshouser said.
Keep 'em coming back
Casinos court their best customers with an escalating system of freebies, or "comps," such as free hotel rooms and limousines.
The pinnacle, the vintage Mercedes-Benz the Alton Belle gave to Roberts in 1999, was a way of sealing his loyalty, keeping his business there.
But the Alton Belle was helpful in other ways.
As Roberts' land scam began building steam, he used the Alton casino as his private bank between 1998 and 2000, his court file shows.
Roberts moved hundreds of thousands of dollars entrusted to him by his investors in and out of an account at the casino under his name, according to FBI documents.
Roberts deposited checks from investors into an account at a St. Louis bank. Then he would have the bank issue cashiers' checks in smaller amounts, according to the FBI affidavit filed by special agent Howard Marshall.
"Many of these checks are then taken to the Alton Belle Casino, where they are deposited and used by Roberts, either to pay down his marker (his gambling debt) or for gambling activity," Marshall wrote.
He later would withdraw as much as $100,000 at a time from the casino account, bankrolling his tastes in jewelry, watches, cars and Italian-made suits, court records show.
Brian Watts, the Alton Belle casino manager, testified during Roberts' April 2001 sentencing hearing that Roberts' losses mattered greatly to the casino's bottom line.
"Oh, yeah, I've seen him lose $80,000 in 10 minutes," Watts said. "If Ron had a good month or a bad month, his play was so large that it would swing whether or not we beat last month's numbers."
Casino staff were assigned to keep a close eye on Roberts, whose erratic behavior became harder to ignore.
"He would say, 'I lost because you put this dealer here.' Or, 'I lost because you sent this dealer to break too soon,'" Watts said.
Roberts' arrest by federal agents in April 2000 put a dent in the Alton Belle's bottom line.
"So Ron was no longer playing on our property," Watts said. "We did not have a good month" that month.
U.S. District Judge Richard Webber sentenced Roberts to nearly 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay more than $14 million in restitution. He also ordered Roberts to receive treatment for his gambling problem.
Roberts, now an inmate at the federal penitentiary in Marion, refused repeated interview requests.
In late November 2002, Roberts wrote to Webber pleading for permission to visit his dying mother. His request was denied.
In the letter, Roberts expressed remorse for his crimes, explaining: "We made some huge mistakes with other people's money. I got so heavily involved with gambling because I tried so hard to pay a lot of the investors' money back."
http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/6039313.htm
