Paradise Casino employees among 9 arrested in alleged card game cheating scheme

[clevfan]

Paradise Casino employees among 9 arrested in alleged card game cheating scheme

By DARREN SIMON, Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 3:23 PM PDT

WINTERHAVEN — Nine Yuma County residents have been arrested here for allegedly conspiring to steal money from Paradise Casino by cheating in a card game.

The arrests were made sometime after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in the casino following a five-week investigation by the casino's gaming inspectors, who contacted the Imperial County Sheriff's Office.

The names of the nine people — eight men and a woman — were not released by the Sheriff's Office Winterhaven substation, but authorities said two of the nine were employees of the casino.

Initially, 14 people were detained for questioning, said sheriff's Sgt. Scott Sheppeard, who heads the Winterhaven substation.

While releasing few details about the investigation, Sheppeard said the nine were arrested on counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft and burglary. All nine were booked into Imperial County jail and officials said bail was set at $10,000 each.

Information on the custody status of all nine was unavailable this morning.

Sheppeard said the conspiracy involved a card game but did not comment further.

Sheppeard also alleged the group succeeded for a time in cheating the casino out of money, but he declined to say how much.

He said sheriff's investigators are piecing together the case for further prosecution.

Further details were expected to be released later.

The case remains under investigation.

[clevfan]

Nine arrested at Yuma casino
BY JACOB LOPEZ, Staff Writer
Jun 24, 2004



WINTERHAVEN — Nine Yuma residents are out on bond after being arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion of cheating on card games at Paradise Casino.

The nine suspects face charges of cheating at a gambling complex, burglary, conspiracy and grand theft, said Sgt. Scott Sheppeard, with the Imperial County Sheriff's Office. Grand theft refers to stolen money valued more than $400, he said.

The court clerk from the Imperial County jail in Calexico said the nine were bailed out of jail later Tuesday on 10 percent of their $10,000 bonds. The clerk added the District Attorney's Office has 30 days to file a criminal complaint against the nine suspects, and the suspects will appear in court within the next 30 days.

Those arrested were Daniel Sanchez, John Mooney, Kain Hiew, Rong Zhang, Lai Chen, Ji Ni, Loh Meng, Jacky Chen and Lio Mak. Addresses and ages for the nine people were unavailable, but deputies identified them as Yuma residents.

Sheppeard said he could not release names of five other Yuma residents who initially were suspected of cheating because they were not arrested. However, as the investigation continues, it is possible the five suspects could be arrested if sufficient evidence is discovered, Sheppeard said.

Paradise Casino inspectors had been investigating the suspected cheating for five to six weeks, and they turned the investigation over to the sheriff's office Monday night when they reported the suspicious activity to the deputies, Sheppeard said.

Details on how the alleged cheating was done were not released by the sheriff's deputies or casino officials because the investigation is ongoing, they said.

Deputies responded to the casino after receiving a call from casino officials regarding a ring of gamblers they suspected had been cheating on the California side of the casino on class 3 table card games, said casino officials and Imperial County sheriff's deputies. Casino officials said class 3 table games are ones in which players gamble against the casino and not against each other.

The nine arrested and the five additional suspects were questioned for several hours by deputies late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, Sheppeard said. Deputies also interviewed casino inspectors over the same period and found sufficient evidence to arrest the nine, he said.

The five others who were detained were released the same night for lack of evidence, Sheppeard said.

Barrett DeFay, marketing director and spokesman for Paradise Casino, said the casino is working with the sheriff's office, and since the investigation is ongoing, he could not give an official statement Wednesday afternoon.

Casino officials did say they initiated the investigation and that they followed the proper procedures for investigating this type of activity. They said before contacting the sheriff's office, they notified the Tribal Gaming Authority for Arizona.

© Copyright, YumaSun.com

[jackfrost]

where what state ?