Mosca
Mosca
  • Threads: 191
  • Posts: 4140
Joined: Dec 14, 2009
January 19th, 2016 at 9:22:40 PM permalink
Three charged with scamming Mohegan Sun Pocono

Pretty slick: over $400k. Of course they eventually got caught. But still, a slick operation. Waitress picks up stray players cards and gives them to the VP of Player Development, who duplicates them, adds comp cash, and gives them to a third party to play in the slots. Not sure how they got the PINs, maybe the waitress looked over the players shoulder as the number was entered. (I think the story is confused about who did what.)

Pellegrini lives near me, walking distance. Next door neighbor to our daughter's best friend. I dont know the guy, but WTF was he thinking? Nice house, nice family, all very neat and clean. Who knows.

Edited to add: the waitress would just flat out ask the players for their card and PIN. She then gave the info to the VP. It would have gone on forever, but a dealer was romantically involved with the waitress, who was also involved with the player who was cashing in the cards. The dealer got jealous and spilled the beans.

Three netted over $400k in casino conspiracy
A falling knife has no handle.
AxelWolf
AxelWolf
  • Threads: 164
  • Posts: 22278
Joined: Oct 10, 2012
January 19th, 2016 at 9:50:20 PM permalink
Quote: Mosca

Three charged with scamming Mohegan Sun Pocono

Pretty slick: over $400k. Of course they eventually got caught. But still, a slick operation. Waitress picks up stray players cards and gives them to the VP of Player Development, who duplicates them, adds comp cash, and gives them to a third party to play in the slots. Not sure how they got the PINs, maybe the waitress looked over the players shoulder as the number was entered. (I think the story is confused about who did what.)

Pellegrini lives near me, walking distance. Next door neighbor to our daughter's best friend. I dont know the guy, but WTF was he thinking? Nice house, nice family, all very neat and clean. Who knows.

Edited to add: the waitress would just flat out ask the players for their card and PIN. She then gave the info to the VP. It would have gone on forever, but a dealer was romantically involved with the waitress, who was also involved with the player who was cashing in the cards. The dealer got jealous and spilled the beans.

Three netted over $400k in casino conspiracy

Perhaps casinos need to spend more time and money focusing on employee theft and less time and money trying to foil AP's. They lose much more to employee theft. Obviously they need to protect their higher limit games.
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪
DMSCR
DMSCR
  • Threads: 5
  • Posts: 774
Joined: Apr 15, 2012
January 19th, 2016 at 10:19:28 PM permalink
Quote: AxelWolf

Quote: Mosca

Three charged with scamming Mohegan Sun Pocono

Pretty slick: over $400k. Of course they eventually got caught. But still, a slick operation. Waitress picks up stray players cards and gives them to the VP of Player Development, who duplicates them, adds comp cash, and gives them to a third party to play in the slots. Not sure how they got the PINs, maybe the waitress looked over the players shoulder as the number was entered. (I think the story is confused about who did what.)

Pellegrini lives near me, walking distance. Next door neighbor to our daughter's best friend. I dont know the guy, but WTF was he thinking? Nice house, nice family, all very neat and clean. Who knows.

Edited to add: the waitress would just flat out ask the players for their card and PIN. She then gave the info to the VP. It would have gone on forever, but a dealer was romantically involved with the waitress, who was also involved with the player who was cashing in the cards. The dealer got jealous and spilled the beans.

Three netted over $400k in casino conspiracy

Perhaps casinos need to spend more time and money focusing on employee theft and less time and money trying to foil AP's. They lose much more to employee theft. Obviously they need to protect their higher limit games.



Absolutely agree on that one. Casinos goes ballistic if say you win $500 every half hour consistently yet turn a blind eye when the tree rots from within until it is too late.

Mohegan Sun. Not a big fan of that casino. Much prefer Foxwoods because they let natural light in with a better layout. Mohegan's dark labyrinth interior is design to keep you in where you get lost very easily. Plus that casino is such a sore loser.
GWAE
GWAE
  • Threads: 93
  • Posts: 9854
Joined: Sep 20, 2013
January 20th, 2016 at 2:30:41 AM permalink
Quote: DMSCR

Quote: AxelWolf

Quote: Mosca

Three charged with scamming Mohegan Sun Pocono

Pretty slick: over $400k. Of course they eventually got caught. But still, a slick operation. Waitress picks up stray players cards and gives them to the VP of Player Development, who duplicates them, adds comp cash, and gives them to a third party to play in the slots. Not sure how they got the PINs, maybe the waitress looked over the players shoulder as the number was entered. (I think the story is confused about who did what.)

Pellegrini lives near me, walking distance. Next door neighbor to our daughter's best friend. I dont know the guy, but WTF was he thinking? Nice house, nice family, all very neat and clean. Who knows.

Edited to add: the waitress would just flat out ask the players for their card and PIN. She then gave the info to the VP. It would have gone on forever, but a dealer was romantically involved with the waitress, who was also involved with the player who was cashing in the cards. The dealer got jealous and spilled the beans.

Three netted over $400k in casino conspiracy

Perhaps casinos need to spend more time and money focusing on employee theft and less time and money trying to foil AP's. They lose much more to employee theft. Obviously they need to protect their higher limit games.



Absolutely agree on that one. Casinos goes ballistic if say you win $500 every half hour consistently yet turn a blind eye when the tree rots from within until it is too late.

Mohegan Sun. Not a big fan of that casino. Much prefer Foxwoods because they let natural light in with a better layout. Mohegan's dark labyrinth interior is design to keep you in where you get lost very easily. Plus that casino is such a sore loser.


This happened in PA, not CT
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed. I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
MidwestAP
MidwestAP
  • Threads: 22
  • Posts: 1264
Joined: Feb 19, 2012
January 20th, 2016 at 4:23:18 AM permalink
How was the VP of Player Development able to load almost a half million of free play into cards without some alarm bells either at the time he was doing it, or at least on a back end audit?
Mosca
Mosca
  • Threads: 191
  • Posts: 4140
Joined: Dec 14, 2009
January 20th, 2016 at 4:57:45 AM permalink
Quote: MidwestAP

How was the VP of Player Development able to load almost a half million of free play into cards without some alarm bells either at the time he was doing it, or at least on a back end audit?



That was just from May '14 through April '15. It was going on long before that, according to the second article.

If you look at Pellegrini's LinkedIn profile, he's been in the industry about 20 years, holding similar positions with several prominent corporations. I guess he just found a loophole he thought he could exploit, in the comps budget. And if it hadn't been for the human element, he'd still be raking it in.
A falling knife has no handle.
MidwestAP
MidwestAP
  • Threads: 22
  • Posts: 1264
Joined: Feb 19, 2012
January 20th, 2016 at 5:29:16 AM permalink
Quote: Mosca

That was just from May '14 through April '15. It was going on long before that, according to the second article.

If you look at Pellegrini's LinkedIn profile, he's been in the industry about 20 years, holding similar positions with several prominent corporations. I guess he just found a loophole he thought he could exploit, in the comps budget. And if it hadn't been for the human element, he'd still be raking it in.


I guess. I just thought there are better checks and balances on discretionary comps. I once had a host tell me he had a weekly meeting with his boss where he has to justify each player expenditure that he comped (including free play/match play offers). Now he may have been just saying that to avoid granting me what I was asking for, but still, this surprises me.
wellwellwell
wellwellwell
  • Threads: 0
  • Posts: 154
Joined: Jun 17, 2015
January 20th, 2016 at 5:32:53 AM permalink
Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

-Benjamin Franklin
Wizardofnothing
Wizardofnothing
  • Threads: 121
  • Posts: 3493
Joined: Jul 3, 2015
January 20th, 2016 at 5:47:59 AM permalink
At his level 400 k over a year is less then 10k a week/ not even close to a red flag- I know some casinos where depending on the authority level they can add 100-500-2500 without a single issue- let alone I'm sure these were strong players so the play probably justified what he was offering- it's easily hidden and goes on at a lot of places

http://www.fox29.com/news/51752445-story
No longer hiring, don’t ask because I won’t hire you either
ukaserex
ukaserex
  • Threads: 21
  • Posts: 262
Joined: Jul 12, 2015
January 20th, 2016 at 7:30:27 AM permalink
487,100 in slot play. Winnings of $418,792.55

86%...not too shabby given the volume of play.


The thing I wonder about - is all those folks who left their cards behind/lost their cards - that really sort of mucks up their win/loss report. I realize most use their own journals - but if they were audited and their records differed greatly from the win/loss records, I wonder how the IRS would handle that.

Further, I kind of wonder how often gamblers are audited compared to the rest of the population. Given the over-burdened staff...well, that's another post for another time.
"Those who have no idea what they are doing, genuinely have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
DRich
DRich
  • Threads: 86
  • Posts: 11709
Joined: Jul 6, 2012
January 20th, 2016 at 7:48:37 AM permalink
Quote: MidwestAP

How was the VP of Player Development able to load almost a half million of free play into cards without some alarm bells either at the time he was doing it, or at least on a back end audit?



In Nevada the Gaming Control Board requires every casino to do an audit on the free play and points given away at least every 90 days. If they have similar requirements I would either guess they were not doing them or that since he was the VP of the players club, he was the one in charge of flagging any unusual transactions.

I don't think there was anything clever in what he did, It is just surprising that it was someone at that high of a level doing it.
At my age, a "Life In Prison" sentence is not much of a deterrent.
DMSCR
DMSCR
  • Threads: 5
  • Posts: 774
Joined: Apr 15, 2012
January 20th, 2016 at 8:10:46 AM permalink
Quote: GWAE

Quote: DMSCR

Quote: AxelWolf

Quote: Mosca

Three charged with scamming Mohegan Sun Pocono

Pretty slick: over $400k. Of course they eventually got caught. But still, a slick operation. Waitress picks up stray players cards and gives them to the VP of Player Development, who duplicates them, adds comp cash, and gives them to a third party to play in the slots. Not sure how they got the PINs, maybe the waitress looked over the players shoulder as the number was entered. (I think the story is confused about who did what.)

Pellegrini lives near me, walking distance. Next door neighbor to our daughter's best friend. I dont know the guy, but WTF was he thinking? Nice house, nice family, all very neat and clean. Who knows.

Edited to add: the waitress would just flat out ask the players for their card and PIN. She then gave the info to the VP. It would have gone on forever, but a dealer was romantically involved with the waitress, who was also involved with the player who was cashing in the cards. The dealer got jealous and spilled the beans.

Three netted over $400k in casino conspiracy

Perhaps casinos need to spend more time and money focusing on employee theft and less time and money trying to foil AP's. They lose much more to employee theft. Obviously they need to protect their higher limit games.



Absolutely agree on that one. Casinos goes ballistic if say you win $500 every half hour consistently yet turn a blind eye when the tree rots from within until it is too late.

Mohegan Sun. Not a big fan of that casino. Much prefer Foxwoods because they let natural light in with a better layout. Mohegan's dark labyrinth interior is design to keep you in where you get lost very easily. Plus that casino is such a sore loser.


This happened in PA, not CT



Thanks for clearing that up since I just scanned through it in somewhat of my usual disgust with the whole gaming environment and the majority of the people who approach this with a something for nothing mentality. Why yes DMSCR. Reading is funnymental. LOL.

PA is even worst mind you. Good bac action though. Actually great bac action but the crowd is way sub-par.

Mohegan Sun in all its variations is crap too. Like the Borgata. That joint backed me off at the bac tables too in 2012. Just because I was spread betting! Really glad that they couldn't win in Mass and build one of their monstrosities in NY.
Mosca
Mosca
  • Threads: 191
  • Posts: 4140
Joined: Dec 14, 2009
January 20th, 2016 at 9:34:06 AM permalink
Quote: Wizardofnothing

At his level 400 k over a year is less then 10k a week/ not even close to a red flag- I know some casinos where depending on the authority level they can add 100-500-2500 without a single issue- let alone I'm sure these were strong players so the play probably justified what he was offering- it's easily hidden and goes on at a lot of places

http://www.fox29.com/news/51752445-story



Wow, the same scam!
A falling knife has no handle.
EvenBob
EvenBob
  • Threads: 441
  • Posts: 28652
Joined: Jul 18, 2010
January 20th, 2016 at 11:55:39 AM permalink
Never have a partner in anything, especially
crime. The chance of you getting screwed are
huge. I once heard an FBI agent on a radio
show. He said if you want to commit a crime
and get away with it, first have no record,
and second, do it alone and tell absolutely
nobody. He said if you're smart, and not
greedy, the chances of getting caught are
slim.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
zoobrew
zoobrew
  • Threads: 13
  • Posts: 309
Joined: Jan 12, 2015
January 20th, 2016 at 1:16:56 PM permalink
Bad criminals and gamblers share a fatal flaw. Not knowing when to quit.
Wizardofnothing
Wizardofnothing
  • Threads: 121
  • Posts: 3493
Joined: Jul 3, 2015
January 20th, 2016 at 1:18:26 PM permalink
They were actually really different ---- scam wise
And the Pocono scam was much more thought out and harder to detect
No longer hiring, don’t ask because I won’t hire you either
  • Jump to: