Biggest Casino Scandals that rocked political power, government heads and the intrigue and spider web of connections and dark web that exposed high stake players.
Casinos are great. They help fuel the economy and they give ordinary consumers the opportunity to make money on the side. Of course, it is true that there are many risks involved. In fact, there have been lots of scandals associated with casinos and other gambling establishments. Within this guide, you’re going to learn about some of the biggest casino scandals of the past.
The Slot Machine Scandal
If you’re interested in slot machines, you’ll definitely want to check out this interesting online slots. One of the biggest scandals of all time impacted slot machines in the Philippines. It was discovered that two employees with the Philippine Amusement and Gambling Corporation had been charged with falsifying documents associated with the activity of the slot machines. It was found that Lope Cristobal and Mark Fransisco had tampered with the payout records. It was their intention to steal PHP 36,200. That equates to roughly $675. Suffice to say, anyone playing slot machines at that casino had to be very careful. Otherwise, they might have just got taken by these two greedy individuals.
Indian Lobbying Scandal
In 2005, a United States scandal was uncovered. The scandal is now referred to as the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. It was carried out by several political lobbyists, including Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, Michael Scanlon, and Ralph E. Reed Jr. The fraud was perpetrated on Native American tribes that were attempting to develop casinos on their reservations. The lobbyists ended up charging the tribes roughly $85 million in fees. This was definitely one of the biggest and most eye-opening casino scandals the United States had ever seen.
It shook the industry to its core and brought Washington to a standstill.
Duterte And Galaxy
Another possible scandal involved Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Galaxy Entertainment. Originally, Duterte claimed that he hated casinos. In the end, it seems that his claim was a lie. The President was happy to meet with representatives of Galaxy Entertainment and Landing International. He ultimately gave the company their blessing and was happy to accept their multibillion dollar investments. Those investments would have helped Entertainment City in Manila and Boracay Island. Eventually, he shutdown Boracay Island for the purpose of an environmental cleanup.
Of course, some people didn’t believe the claim. They suggested that he was only using the shutdown as a way to open the door for the casinos construction. Not much came from the so-called scandal. Nevertheless, it was somewhat of a black eye for the President and his party.
Caesars Palace Money Laundering
When it comes to casinos and the wealthy, you can almost guarantee that some money laundering is going on. The big difference is that some people get caught and many do not. For Caesars Entertainment Corp. the deception ended in 2015. The company eventually agreed to pay $8 million as a civil penalty for neglecting its anti-money laundering controls. This happened at the casino’s VIP rooms, which mainly served Chinese high rollers. The casino admitted that it had allowed very wealthy individuals to gamble in their private rooms anonymously. The IRS ultimately found that Caesars had failed to file at least 100 reports regarding irregular activities.
In one case, the casino did not report an incident when a foreign customer deposited $50,000. Under federal law, the transaction should have been flagged as suspicious. Caesars failed to uphold their duties under the rule of law. Two other casinos were fined in 2015 for similar behavior.
Black Friday
Black Friday was definitely one of the biggest scandals in the history of casinos. The event took place on April 11, 2011. On this day, the Department of Justice unsealed indictments against three online casinos. The three largest casinos were charged with violations of the UIGEA and operating illegal gambling businesses. Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker were all hit with indictments. Plus, there were eleven other defendants involved. Individuals who had funds with the companies were supposed to be given refunds. The only problem is that Poker Stars was the only company capable of doing this.
Poker Stars settled with the DOJ for $731 million. The other two sites ultimately went out of business. This scandal definitely had a major impact on the gambling industry and it changes online gambling significantly.
