Casino Crime Roundup: Vegas Visitor Allegedly Presents Bad Check, Loses $865K While Gambling

Posted on: July 25, 2024, 07:23h. 

Last updated on: July 25, 2024, 10:11h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A man used a fraudulent check to get $865K in markers, all of which he quickly lost this week while playing at Las Vegas’s Aria Resort & Casino, authorities said.

Aria Resort & Casino
Aria Resort & Casino, pictured above. An employee there uncovered a scheme where a guest had given a bad check to the casino in exchange for markers. (Image: Kayak)

Dharma Nadendla, 41, of North Carolina, who was staying at the Las Vegas Strip property, went to the casino’s cashier’s cage on Tuesday where he presented a credit union check made out for $380K. He then received $865K worth of casino chips from the cashier’s cage.

Ndendla then proceeded to lose the markers, a form of credit given to players, valued at $500K and $365K while playing table games at the Aria, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).

But rather than calling it quits, he went back up to his hotel room at the Aria and called the cashier’s cage in an attempt to get still another marker.

At that time, a suspicious employee looked at the check and discovered that the number found at the top of the credit union check wasn’t the same as the number at the bottom. Staff at the Aria telephoned the credit union located in North Carolina, which confirmed the check was fraudulent, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The casino employee told Nadendla to come down to the casino floor to get another marker. But as he went to the hotel elevator, he was met by LVMPD officers who had been alerted to the scheme by Aria employees.

Nadendla was charged with theft of $100K or greater, burglary of a business, and forgery, according to the Review-Journal.

He posted bond and will appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on August 28.

Texas Gambling Joint Raided

Harris County, Texas deputies seized more than $14,584 in cash and several gambling devices during a recent raid of a gambling operation.

Officers became suspicious after getting word from residents illegal gambling was taking place in the Houston game room. Undercover deputies went to the unnamed gaming operation and confirmed illegal gambling was happening there.

Two employees, Son Van Nguyen and Thanh Van Nguyen, were charged with possession of gambling device paraphernalia.

Authorities point out that illegal gambling can lead to other crimes, according to Houston TV station KRIV.

Official Charged After Alleged Gambling

A North Carolina public official was arrested earlier this month after allegedly driving while intoxicated and gambling, authorities said.

Madison County Board of Elections Director Jacob Ray, 30, was charged with driving while impaired and misdemeanor gambling.  

He has court dates of August 27 and October 7 for the different charges.

The arrest was revealed to the public on July 18 by Madison County Board of Commissioners Chair Matt Wechtel who said he first learned about the DWI charge on July 14 and the gambling count on July 16.

Wechtel also told the Asheville Citizen-Times, a local news outlet, it was “troubling and extremely disappointing” he found out about the arrests from outside sources and not from those inside the Board of Elections office.

“As soon as the Board of Commissioners was able to confirm the accuracy of the charges, we strongly urged the Board of Elections to take swift and stringent disciplinary actions to ensure the credibility of the Madison County electoral process going forward,” Wechtel said in a statement.