Sports Gambling Ring in Atlantic City Busted
ATLANTIC CITY — An illegal sports gambling ring operating from a high-stakes poker room in a posh Atlantic City casino was busted Wednesday and 23 people were charged, including four with alleged mob ties and six casino employees.
Since March 2006, the ring took in $22 million in bets on college and professional football and basketball in the poker room of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, said New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.
The off-the-books exchanges of cash and casino chips were unraveled when an informant told authorities what to look for using the casino’s eye-in-the-sky surveillance cameras, Milgram said.
The alleged ringleader of the operation, Andrew Micali, 32, of Ventnor, is a known associate of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, according to a New Jersey law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the crim-inal complaints do not mention any reputed mob ties. Micali was charged with promoting gambling, money launder-ing and criminal usury.
Three associates of Micali also were arrested and charged with conspiracy to promote gambling. Most of the others were charged with promoting gambling or money laundering.
“They sought to escape detection by enlisting casino employees in their crimes,” Milgram said. “I’m pleased to say they greatly underestimated our vigilance and determination to keep organized crime out of Atlantic City casinos.”
Milgram said they followed the money in the case from the casino to “wire rooms” in Philadelphia.
The ring was publicized mainly by word of mouth among illegal gamblers, who were advised whom to see in the poker room to place their bets. Two wire rooms in Philadelphia were used to tally the bets and calculate winnings and payouts for the ring.
Authorities said the ring engaged in “massive money laundering” facilitated by casino employees who would not record certain exchanges of cash and gambling chips. This is a common method of money laundering at casinos called “chip washing,” Milgram said.
“It involves taking cash, turning it into chips, ‘washing’ the chips by betting and then turning them in, and taking cash out,” she said.
Losing bettors were forced to take out loans from the ring at more than 50 percent interest to cover their losses, authorities said.
In executing search warrants Wednesday, authorities seized more than $40,000 and Borgata chips from a safe deposit box Micali maintained at the casino. The state also obtained a court warrant freezing Micali’s bank account with more than $200,000 in it.
Authorities said the Borgata cooperated with the investigation, which state police called “Operation High Roller” and let investigators use casino surveillance video.
Borgata spokesman Rob Stillwell said the casino did nothing wrong and assisted in the sting that led to Wednesday’s arrests.
Stillwell said that the ring involved “rogue employees” and the integrity of the casino’s operations were never compromised — claims which were confirmed by law enforcement officials Wednesday.
The casino employees charged included poker room supervisors, dealers and a bartender at the Borgata and a supervisor at the Tropicana Casino and Resort.
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage.
The state Casino Control Commission was expected to take disciplinary action against the casino workers who were arrested, commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan said.
The four men with alleged mob ties, along with Borgata supervisor Joseph Wishnick, 42, of Brigantine, were taken into custody Wednesday. Wishnick was charged with promoting gambling.
Bail was set at $100,000 for Micali and $50,000 for the others.