Las Vegas Hotel-Casino to Pay $1M in Scam

By ADAM GOLDMAN
.c The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A hotel-casino has agreed to pay $1 million for rigging three contest drawings, including one in which it awarded a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle to compensate a high roller who had lost a substantial amount of money gambling, regulators said Wednesday.

The Venetian casino agreed to settle the charges after an investigation revealed the Chinese New Year celebration drawings in February 2002 were a sham, according to a complaint by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The complaint and settlement show a casino executive hid the winning ticket for the SUV in his shirt sleeve and pretended to draw it randomly. Casino officials reported the incident to gambling regulators shortly after receiving information about the phony drawing.

The Venetian also acknowledged the executive involved in the Mercedes scheme predetermined the winner of the two other drawings for promotional casino chips worth $10,000 and $20,000.

The Venetian did not admit wrongdoing, but said in a statement that it fully cooperated with investigators and regretted the actions of ``certain rogue employees.''

Four Venetian employees were fired, including two senior executives.

In the settlement, the casino agreed to pay a $663,000 fine and $337,000 to cover the cost of the investigation.

If approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, the fine will be among the highest ever paid by a Nevada casino. The Mirage was fined $5 million in June for failing to file certain financial reports.

02/25/04 22:32 EST

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.