Atlantic City
casino workers indicted for stealing players
Three casino workers in Atlantic City have been indicted
for allegedly stealing a list of more than 20,000 players from
the Tropicana Casino and Resort. "We charge that these
marketers stole one of the most valuable assets of the casino,
namely detailed contact information and ratings for its
top-level players. This type of corporate espionage and theft
involving proprietary information is a very serious crime,"
Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement. According to
some reports, the stolen list of gamblers was worth as much as
$110 million, considering some of the players were high-rollers.
The three casino workers are a former marketing vice president
at Tropicana, John Conklin, who is currently the vice president
of relationship marketing at Borgata Hotel and Casino in
Atlantic City; Justin Litterelle, currently working for the
Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and James DiMarco. All
were charged with theft by unlawful taking, computer theft and
conspiracy, while Conklin and Litterelle are also facing charges
of receiving stolen property. They are facing as much as 10
years behind bars.
According to the prosecutors, Conklin
had Litterelle download a list of players from the Tropicana
Casino for future leverage, if they find themselves working at a
different casino. In early 2007 Conklin was working at the
Bellagio, when he asked Litterelle to send DiMarco the player
list, because DiMarco had lost his job at the Tropicana. The
players conspiracy blew over when Litterelle tried to send the
paper copy from the Bellagio mailroom, but an employee notified
Bellagio security department. According to authorities, the
Bellagio notified the Tropicana and the Borgata, and all three
casinos cooperated with the investigation.
Published on
06/17/2008
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