Thursday, February 03, 2011

How the Bellagio Bandit was Caught

If you follow Las Vegas closely you've probably heard about the man who robbed the Bellagio of some $1.5 million in chips and then escaped on a motorcycle. The robbery took place on December 14th. Today it was announced that an arrest had been made in the case.

According to the arrest report, the alleged robber made several mistakes that led to him being caught:

-Before the robbery, while playing poker he spoke to a Bellagio dealer indicating that he wanted to rob a casino and thought he could get away with it.

-After the robbery, he immediately gambled heavily at Bellagio. This activity was tracked by Currency Transaction Reports (used to track cash transactions over $10,000) and was also tracked because the robber was using HIS OWN PLAYERS CARD.

-He admitted to several of his poker buddies that he committed the robbery.

-He STAYED AT BELLAGIO for several nights after the robbery using his new high roller status - fully comped Room, Food and Beverage (RFB).

-He went on poker message boards and privately chatted with people about ways to unload the stolen chips.

-The final straw - he sold chips to an undercover police officer AT THE BELLAGIO where he was arrested.