Big-Time Video Keno Machine Scam!

Source: Joliet Patch

A Las Vegas man wanted for allegedly cheating the Joliet Harrah's out of as much as $500,000 was captured during a traffic stop.

Paul Jovenich, 42, was taken into custody by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Friday. He is the third of an alleged five-member team of professional casino cheats.

Jovenich was arrested without incident , said Las Vegas Police Officer Larry Hadfield.

Jovenich and four others allegedly teamed to fleece Harrah's in April 2012. The band of gambling cheats made their score by manipulating video keno machines, according to court filings.

Two of the crew, husband and wife Randle and Virginia Thorpe, were booked into the Will County jail last month. Both were released after posting $50,000 bond.

Rande Thorpe, 57, is the former superintendent La Porte, IN, schools. He and Virginia Thorpe, 58, also were charged with ripping off the Harrah's in Tunica, MS.

The two alleged casino cheats still at large—Randy Binning, 48, and Svetoslav Dorobanov, 38—both live in Las Vegas.

The alleged cheating scheme apparently unraveled when Binning was pulled over in Arizona and turned out to be carrying more than $400,000 he claimed he claimed to have won on keno machines that were malfunctioning at Harrah's casinos in Joliet, Illinois, and Tunica, Mississippi, according to a court filing.

Dorobanov, a Bulgarian chess master who also competed in the World Series of Poker, has accused Harrah's of trumping up the charges in retaliation for his triumphs in the casino. He called the charges against him "phony" and "preposterous." Dorobanov also said Harrah's is simply "very bitter for losing money to" him.

Hadfield said Jovenich will be held until police from Will County come to pick him up. Once he arrives in Illinois he will be held on a $250,000 bond.

My take: Well, we don`t have many details on this scam but it looks pretty high-tech and pretty big, so we`ll see what evidence the casino has on them.