And one of the casino cheats was pulled off an airplane about to take off! Talk about high drama! In any case, it's another incident of inside dealer cheating which seems to be plaguing casinos more and more throughout the world. It's actually rivalling Wall Street Fraud. The next big casino movie might be called something like "Blackjack Street" or "Roulette Street" in order to sound like Michael Douglas's "Wall Street" financial rip-off caper sequel.
Article:
A Lake Charles man and a Houston man have been arrested and are accused of cheating a Lake Charles casino out of hundreds of thousands.
The Louisiana State Police says last week troopers with Gaming Enforcement began investigating reports of cheating at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort.
Casino surveillance personnel discovered the crime being perpetrated and alerted state police.
42-year-old Derrick Weldon, a dealer working in the casino from Lake Charles, was arrested for cheating and swindling over $1,500 ($257,200) as well as conspiracy to commit cheating and swindling. Authortities believe Weldon cheated the casino out of more than $250 thousand.
Louisiana State Police say a frequent casino patron from Houston assisted Weldon in the criminal activity.
33-year-old Charbel Tannous managed to leave the casino before being apprehended.
A warrant for Tannous was obtained and on May 17 he was pulled from an outgoing international flight in Houston, just prior to take off.
Tannous will be extradited back to Louisiana to be charged with cheating and swindling over $1,500 ($143,800) as well as conspiracy to commit cheating and swindling. Authortities believe Tannous cheated the casino out of more than $143 thousand.
The bond for Tannous has been set at $1,000,000 and the bond for Weldon was set at $25,000
If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in prison and/or a $4,500 fine.
My take: This is a huge scam for such a small-time casino. Again, more evidence of how casino surveillance departments are so slow to catch on...and even slower to call me for training assistance!