Harrah's fined

Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is fined $65K for failing to detect thefts by cashier, underage gambling
By The Associated Press The Star-Ledger

ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey gambling regulators have fined Harrah's Resort Atlantic City $65,000 for allowing underage gambling, failing to detect thefts by a cashier and leaving cash boxes from three slot machines unattended for more than half an hour.

The fines were handed down on March 8 and made public today. They represent the first disciplinary action against a casino by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement since a sweeping change in gambling regulation was carried out in recent weeks.

Harrah's did not contest the violations and agreed to pay the fines. A spokeswoman for Caesars Entertainment said the company had no further comment.

The most serious violation involved casino security failing to detect four thefts totaling $23,000 by an employee in late 2008 and early 2009. A casino cage supervisor identified only as "MS" was accused of entering the casino's main bank area while acting as a cashier when the regular cashier was gone.

The first incident occurred on Nov. 16, 2008, when "MS" was accused of opening a sealed plastic bag containing cash that had been prepared for deposit and replacing two bundles of $50 bills with $20 bills. That theft resulted in an $8,000 shortage.

On Dec. 28, 2008, "MS" allegedly went into the main bank area and took $5,000 from a bundle of cash, hiding it beneath other papers.

On Jan. 1, 2009, "MS" took another $5,000 from the main bank and put it in her pocket.

And on Jan. 18, 2009, "MS" took yet another $5,000 from a bundle of cash.

The casino was cited for failing, through its surveillance department, to identify and stop theft, and for allowing employees to perform incompatible functions that would allow them to both commit a theft or error, and then cover it up in the course of their duties.

The state Attorney General's Office, which oversees the Division of Gaming Enforcement could not immediately say where the criminal case involving "MS" stands. The woman was fired from the casino and three other cashiers were issued written warnings connected to the case.

In the underage gambling case, Harrah's allowed a 20-year-old man to gamble on Dec. 19, 2009, in the wee hours of the morning. The legal gambling age in New Jersey is 21.

According to paperwork filed by the enforcement division, "JB" was twice allowed to buy casino chips without being asked for identification, and played 19 rounds of roulette. He was caught when he and an associate tried to steal a $100 chip from another gambler at the roulette table, and a commotion ensued. Casino security called State Police who charged "JB" with underage gambling after the patron whose $100 chip was stolen declined to press charges.

Perhaps the most embarrassing of the incidents involves an Aug. 16, 2009, episode in which the contents of three slot machines were removed from the machines at 6:35 a.m. But instead of being placed on a trolley for transport to the cash counting room, they were placed on stools in front of the machines and left there for more than 30 minutes while casino employees brought the contents of other slot machines to the counting room.

Eight minutes after the cash boxes were left unattended on the stools, casino security re-opened that area of slot machines to the public so that patrons could use the machines. It wasn't until 36 minutes after the cash boxes were left unattended that casino workers returned to find them still sitting on the stools in front of the machines, and then brought them to the counting room.

Two of the workers were issued written warnings, and a third was on his last day of employment with the casino when the incident occurred.