Prosecutors: Ex-CEO gets prison after Vegas gambling binge
The former president and chief executive officer of an Alabama steel company has been sentenced to six years in prison for gambling away money during his company's bankruptcy case, federal prosecutors announced.
The former president and chief executive officer of an Alabama steel company has been sentenced to six years in prison for gambling away money during his company's bankruptcy case, federal prosecutors announced.
Kennon Whaley, 51, had been convicted by a federal jury of two counts of concealment of bankruptcy assets, The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. The crimes happened when his company, Montgomery-based Southeastern Stud & Components, was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, prosecutors said.
Evidence at Whaley's trial showed that during the bankruptcy process, he redirected a $260,000 insurance payment intended for the company in 2010 to pay off a personal gambling debt, authorities said.
In 2010, Whaley had traveled to the Wynn Las Vegas Casino, racking up a $100,000 gambling debt during a four-day trip, the prosecutors said.
Whaley improperly used the company's insurance money to pay back his casino debt, and directed an employee to falsify documents regarding the money, authorities said.
"The casino records also showed that once his debt was paid off in October of 2010, Whaley made a return trip to Wynn Las Vegas during which he spent over $20,000 at the casino and sent a limousine to pick up his wife at the airport," federal authorities said in a statement. "At that time, Southeastern Stud was still in bankruptcy and approximately 70 percent of its employees had lost their jobs."
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Re: “Victoria picked for second casino site,” July 9.
So Victoria’s mayor and city council favour cramming 300 to 400 slot machines into the Crystal Garden in an attempt to generate some revenue for the city.
Apparently, the fact that the Crystal Garden is a heritage building with a conservatory-style glass roof and walls and is a registered national historical site makes it a great candidate for slot machines, gaming tables and bingo rooms.
Apparently, tourists from around the world will look forward to playing the slots and stamping a few bingo cards after a tour of Victoria’s heritage neighbourhood and Old Town.
Gambling does not improve peoples’ lives. It is well documented that casinos increase problem gambling and associated harms such as bankruptcies, divorce and suicides. Downtown Victoria is already struggling with significant social problems. Do we really need to add a gambling facility to the mix?
Further, the B.C. government has created a joint gaming investigative team to reduce organized crime involvement in illegal gaming and to prevent criminals from using gaming facilities to launder the proceeds of crime.
It is estimated a casino might generate $1.8 million to $2.5 million in annual revenue for the city. This will not come close to covering the costs of addressing the social harms caused by gambling and the additional policing and governmental monitoring that will be necessary to keep organized crime out of the game.
I shudder to think what our civic leaders will think of next.
ATLANTIC CITY — When Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders hosts a rally at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Monday morning, the backdrop will be appropriate.
First, the venue sits next to the shuttered Trump Plaza, one of a handful of casinos once owned by the man Sanders hopes to face for the White House in November: presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Second, his speech comes at a time when Atlantic City, like Sanders, stares at an uphill battle. Economically crippled by the decline of its casino industry, the seaside gambling resort is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy as leaders of the New Jersey Legislature remain deadlocked on a rescue plan.
One — or both — of those topics could be talking points as Sanders holds his second rally in two days in New Jersey. The U.S. senator from Vermont, the first 2016 candidate to host Garden State campaign events, spoke at Rutgers University in New Brunswick on Sunday.
The question is: Will any of it help?
Sanders is mathematically eliminated from gathering enough pledged delegates to win the Democratic nomination over front-runner Hillary Clinton. He has an outside shot of winning over enough superdelegates to steal the nod.
New Jersey's primary is June 7, and the state has become a battleground of sorts this week. In addition to Sanders' visit, Clinton is scheduled to hold a rally in Blackwood in Camden County on Wednesday.
If Sanders were to overcome long odds and beat Clinton, he would likely face Trump, the billionaire businessman who owned up to four casinos in Atlantic City from 1984 to 2009. He left the city shortly after his casino company filed for bankruptcy for a fourth time.
"Atlantic City once represented the emblematic success of the Trump brand, and today the city symbolizes the demise of his casino empire," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. "It's fitting that Sanders calls attention to this aspect of Trump's career that may be unknown to many of Trump's supporters throughout the country."
Down the boardwalk is also the Trump Taj Mahal, which is no longer owned but by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who's been at odds with his workers.
A bankruptcy judge in 2014 allow Icahn to strip away health and pension benefits from workers amid the casino's struggles. The city's main casino union, Local 54, is appealing the decision.
Some say the setting is fitting for Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist who often rails against corporations and speaks out against poverty.
"Sanders has taken on the role of defender of the underdog," David L. Carr, a political science professor at Stockton University in nearby Galloway, told Bloomberg News this week. "If there is a city besides Flint, Mich., in the U.S. that is an underdog right now, it has to be Atlantic City."
Still, Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said because it's a long shot Sanders will be the Democratic nominee, "it's hard to say why he is bringing his message to Atlantic City."
Murray argues that it may end up benefitting Clinton.
"It's likely that Donald Trump's casino dealings will feature prominently in her negative attacks — they were already the butt of a joke by President Obama at last week's White House Correspondents Dinner," Murray said. "Perhaps Sanders wants to show how he can be a good surrogate."
Bernie Sanders Criticizes Atlantic City’s Casino Industry
The Democratic presidential candidate brings campaign to New Jersey ahead of June primary
Updated May 9, 2016
ATLANTIC CITY—Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his message of economic revolution to the Atlantic City boardwalk Monday, drawing supporters to the struggling resort in southern New Jersey.
The Democratic presidential candidate, who is hoping to win as many delegates as possible in New Jersey’s June 7 primary election, criticized the “greed and recklessness” of casino owners who he said have attacked local workers’ pension and health-care benefits. Mr. Sanders didn’t address the political fight in Trenton that has left Atlantic City on the brink of bankruptcy.
Atlantic City, which held a 30-year monopoly on East Coast casinos, now competes with gaming parlors in neighboring states and has lost $2.8 billion in gambling revenue since 2006. Thousands of casino workers have lost their jobs in recent years, and, as of March, the city had a nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.3%.
“When we talk about the decline of the American middle class and the increase in poverty, what we are talking about is workers right here,” Mr. Sanders said. “Billionaires like Carl Icahn…come in here and attack the standard of living of dishwashers and maids.”
Mr. Icahn owns two of Atlantic City’s largest casinos, Trump Taj Mahal and the Tropicana. He acquired Trump Taj Mahal, named for its former owner Donald Trump, after the casino entered bankruptcy court.
Mr. Icahn said in a statement that both casinos would have closed if he hadn’t invested millions of dollars in them, saving and creating thousands of jobs.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was loudly booed at the Atlantic City rally, held at Boardwalk Hall a little over a mile from his former casino.
“Oh, you know Donald Trump?” Mr. Sanders said in response to the crowd’s jeers. “You don’t think he’s a brilliant, successful businessman who can bring the kind of prosperity to America that he has brought here to Atlantic City, is that your point?”
Mr. Trump said through a spokeswoman that he had “great success” in Atlantic City before the market collapsed under competition from surrounding states.
Rally attendee Kerrie Scull said she has managed to hold on to her job as a makeup artist for Scores, a gentlemen’s club at Trump Taj Mahal, but her hours have been significantly reduced. The club, which used to operate daily, is now only open on the weekends, she said.
Bernie Sanders supporters listen to the Democratic presidential hopeful during a campaign rally at Boardwalk Hall on Monday in Atlantic City, N.J.
PHOTO:MARK MAKELA/GETTY IMAGES
“Business is slow,” said Ms. Scull, 28 years old, who lives in neighboring Absecon. She said she is supporting Mr. Sanders because she believes the Vermont senator would create jobs and protect local unions if elected president.
Many members of Unite Here Local 54, the union representing Atlantic City’s casino workers, attended the rally. President Bob McDevitt said the union endorsed Mr. Sanders because he is willing to take on hedge funds, private equity and Wall Street investors that have taken over many of Atlantic City’s casinos and saddled them with unsustainable debt.
These casinos owners are “stripping the workers of their benefits and they’re not putting any money back into the economy,” Mr. McDevitt said.
The Casino Association of New Jersey, a trade group, didn’t return requests for comment.
Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, a Republican, said he understands why Mr. Sanders’s message has resonated with voters. Still, the candidate’s economic proposals, such as increasing the minimum wage to $15, are unrealistic, Mr. Levinson said.
“He’s never understood that it’s not free,” Mr. Levinson said. “Someone’s paying for it.”
Mr. Sanders heads into next month’s primary as the underdog but has gained support in recent months among New Jersey voters, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll.
The April poll showed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders narrowing for the first time to single digits, 51% to 42%.
Instead of crafting a desperately needed plan to help Atlantic City, New Jersey's elected leaders are staging a vulgar north-south, bicameral rumble in the Statehouse.
They spent last week promoting dueling bills and holding obnoxious, blame-trading press conferences to distract from their refusal to acknowledge the real problem: Atlantic City needs money.
Two years ago, the city lost four of its 12 casinos as gambling proliferated in Pennsylvania and other nearby states. Now it is lurching toward bankruptcy and likely to run out of money this month or next. This is in spite of six years of state oversight, a significant reduction in municipal expenses, and a city administration frantically trying to stay afloat, even negotiating deferred pay with its employees.
But in Trenton, there's no such attention to Atlantic City's survival. True to form, the state's politicians have larded up the agenda with pet projects like gambling in North Jersey, ulterior motives like looting whatever they can take from Atlantic City, and a proxy war over which Democrat might succeed Gov. Christie - Steve North (Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop) or Steve South (Senate President Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County).
If any of these people actually care about Atlantic City, they must act swiftly, wisely, and (gasp) selflessly, understanding that rescuing the resort will protect the state's investment and the region's economy. They must set aside backroom deals to build casinos in the north or handcuff Atlantic City's leaders so they can dole out recovery contracts. And, above all, they're going to have to cough up some money.
Atlantic City has been a cash cow for New Jersey. By rights, it should get some cash back. Mayor Don Guardian told the Editorial Board last week that the city still sends the state $600 million a year in casino, employment, parking, hotel, and other taxes and fees. Surely some of that can be returned to patch up the state's broken piñata.
Competing Senate and Assembly legislation could be reconciled into a single, solid recovery plan. A payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) bill can address a plague of property-tax appeals, giving the casinos predictable expenses and the city predictable revenues. The state also needs to provide strong, credible oversight and assistance to right the city's finances, but it has no justification to effectively undo the election that put Guardian in office just two years ago. Atlantic City's recovery can't succeed without local officials, who rightly cite the state's Camden takeover as a disheartening precedent.
The mayor has followed the advice of state overseers, reduced the city payroll significantly, and looked for more ways to save money. He also understands that no single grand gesture will save his town. He is working to boost long-term revenues by diversifying the local economy. He wants to attract baby boomers seeking second homes by the sea and millennials looking for trendy clubs and live music. He wants to clear the way for a solar farm on an undeveloped island and has started negotiating to bring small firms into town. Overall, he says he wants the resort to be more of a "real city."
It's an achievable goal if the state gets real about helping.
The New Jersey legislature appears unable to find a compromise on what to do about the dire financial situation of Atlantic City. Gov. Chris Christie said this week that the city has enough cash on hand to allow it to keep functioning for 10 more days, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Because a rescue package hasn’t been hashed out, Atlantic City might be left to file for bankruptcy, a move that Christie has opposed by is now calling “preferable to continuing to write checks.”
Gaming revenue for Atlantic City’s casinos has been cut in half over the past decade, as nearby states decided to allow casinos to keep the gambling dollars within their respective borders. Four brick-and-mortar Atlantic City casinos closed in 2014, leaving eight still operating. A November referendum on whether to end the city’s casino monopoly in the Garden State could eventually cause additional closings, which would leave even fewer tax dollars for the city.
Christie wants the state to be able to take over Atlantic City’s finances. He backs a bill that would give the city 130 days, a much shorter time frame than a competing rescue package that would give Atlantic City up to two years before the full state takeover goes into effect.
Another major sticking point is what to do about union contracts.
According to the AP, Christie compared the situation to a character in the Popeye cartoon strip who loves hamburgers, but is known for asking others to pay for them. It’s a well-known phrase to illustrate financial irresponsibility. “I won’t happily pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” Christie said. “They want the hamburger today, they pay today.”
Despite the city’s struggles, there is significant investment happening there. The owner of Revel, the most expensive casino in the city’s history, plans to re-open part of the property this summer and recently said “Atlantic City is a perfect place to put money.” Gross operating profits for the city’s eight remaining casinos grew by 40 percent in 2015, New Jersey gaming regulators said last month. The state’s online gaming industry that is based in Atlantic City is still growing and represents more than 90 percent of the U.S. online casino gambling market.
BBC commentator saved from killing himself by wife Jill after he fled home with a knife
Tearful: Snooker champion Willie Thorne has gone bankrupt
Snooker legend Willie Thorne is declaring himself bankrupt after a £1million gambling addiction led to him trying to end his life.
Unable to see a way out of his financial turmoil the BBC presenter grabbed a knife, left his home and drove to a hotel where he penned three heart-breaking letters to his family.
But he tells how his devoted wife Jill tracked him down and burst into the room before he could go through with the suicide bid.
Speaking about the ordeal, he admitted: “If it wasn’t for Jill I would not be here now.
“She saved my life. Now I am going to try and put it back together.”
Willie wiped away tears with his fists as he spoke – a broken man at odds with the jovial person who grinned his way through Strictly Come Dancing and whose commentary is adored by millions of snooker fans. Just last month he was helping front coverage of the World Championship for the BBC.
But off screen, the 61-year-old has been living a lie. Now, in an exclusive interview Willie – who declares himself bankrupt next week – has decided to reveal the truth.
He tells how he:
Has lost millions to bookies since retiring from snooker
Was left owing cash to money-lenders – with one threatening to chop off his wife’s fingers
Had two thugs turn up at his house demanding £300,000 in cash
Cleared his house of all its contents – including his prized trophies – to keep them out of the clutches of bailiffs.
Sitting at home in Leicester, the pain of the last few months is clear to see.
The showman is still there, but the eyes are red and distant. And his voice is breathless, worn out by the speed his mind is racing at.
Gambling, and the debts which come with it, have left him broken.
“People think because I’m Willie Thorne, the guy off the TV, I must have loads of money. Nothing could be further from the truth. The house I live in is mortgaged to the hilt and the cars are on lease.
“Yes we should have a nice house in Spain. Yes I should be enjoying my retirement. But there is nothing left – and I’ve no one to blame but myself.”
Willie, who spent two decades on the professional snooker circuit, says his gambling hell can be traced to the moment he retired 15 years ago.
He said: “All of a sudden I wasn’t Willie Thorne the snooker player. I found that difficult.”
Bob Thomas Sports Photography
Eyes on the prize: Willie Thorne at the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible
Hours given to practice, which once made him one of the world’s best players, were replaced with time spent putting money on horses – a love he spoke of in his autobiography that had left him penniless in the past.
It led to him surrounding himself with professional gamblers and other unsavoury associates. And he was drawn in by money lenders who knew he could not resist borrowing big in the hope of a windfall at the race track.
Willie had the gambling under control until two years ago, suffering a relapse when he lost mum Nancy, 87, in July 2013.
He said: “Mum was my rock and everything to me. When she went, my head went. I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ I wanted to get away from how I was feeling, to win enough to live happily ever after – I know it sounds daft. So where I was having a grand on a horse now and again, I would have a bit more.”
For Willie a “bit more” was sometimes £20,000 on a race. And he fell back in with the wrong people. He says: “I met this guy, a professional gambler. The person who introduced us said he’d won every month for four or five years and he can help you out.”
No way back: Snooker champion Willie Thorne has gone bankrupt
In the first few weeks using the gambler’s tips Willie was placing several thousands on the horses. And the gambler was able to use Willie as he could secure huge credit with betting firms.
Willie said: “I had a few wins but I had a few big losses too and before I knew it the amount I was in debt was stacking up and up.”
Stuck with massive debts Willie turned to friends, or acquaintances he barely knew, to ask for cash.
“I was borrowing off more and more people. Things just got out of hand. I was robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he says.
“I’d get my hands on some money and would then place a bet to try and win some money to reduce the debt. It’s a vicious circle. I kept saying to friends ‘I’ll sort it out, I’ll sort it out’. But I knew I couldn’t.”
Willie distanced himself from the professional gambler – only to hear he had scooped a £300,000 win. Meanwhile, Willie’s despair was getting deeper.
Getty
Potter: Willie Thorne competing in the Masters in 1986
Eventually, with no money left to wager and no one left willing to lend to him, he tried to take his own life. After leaving home last June Willie drove to a nearby hotel where he made frantic calls to friends trying to borrow money.
When he was knocked back he signed off each call by saying “goodbye” and that he was “sorry for everything he’d done”.
And when word of the calls got back to Jill she called 999. They got to Willie just in time. He was found in a room with a knife and three letters to his family. He says: “I couldn’t see a way out. I thought I’d caused so much grief to so many people.
“I can’t remember a large part of that day. I was oblivious to what was happening. I’d gone. I was told by police afterwards I had a knife. My intention was to end my life. It was a shock to see Jill burst into the room. She saved my life.”
Willie explains: “I had lunatics chasing me and demanding money and I couldn’t see a way out.
“It’s so cowardly isn’t it. I have three children, two stepchildren, grandchildren, a nice house with a loving wife yet I couldn’t see a way through.”
Willie was taken to hospital but soon discharged himself. Next day he was centre stage at a public engagement and as ever the showman kicked in.
He says: “Everyone thinks I’m happy-go-lucky. But they don’t know I’m living a lie. Always smiling, always laughing – but inside feeling hopeless.
“Maybe after the suicide attempt I should have gone to rehab. Perhaps there was a sense of denial, I didn’t want to see the letters I’d written for instance. All I wanted was to sort out the mess.”
But he increasingly turned to money-lenders, some with criminal connections, to put things right. It led to terrifying threats being issued towards Willie and his family. He revealed: “Just before Christmas two men came to our house.
“My wife and I weren’t in but another member of the family was. They said they’d come to collect £300,000 and that they wanted the money repaid.”
Willie and Jill fled their home and contacted police. But the threats got even more severe.
“Threats were made to Jill,” Willie says. “I had a call saying unless I came up with the money they would chop her fingers off to get to the diamond rings. I had to protect my family.”
The ordeal left Jill equally terrified – she started to check every car that passed and every person who came near.
Getty
Happier days: Willie Thorne competing in the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, April 1983
In the end the pair moved out, until they felt it was safe to return at the start of the year. But after moving back Willie got a warning bailiffs might come calling.
Jill cleared the house of everything, including Willie’s trophies. Family photos were stripped from the walls.
A dolls house used by the grandchildren went into storage. All that remained was the couple’s bed, a sofa and a wicker chair.
Willie took pictures of his bare house on his mobile and sent them to the people chasing him. But it was all putting off the inevitable – bankruptcy.
Over the past few weeks Willie admits he has been in total denial about the extent of his money woes. It was only when he recently sat down with his friend that he realised the extent of his turmoil.
He owes up to £1million that he borrowed to either settle gambling debts or to lay new bets. More than 30 people are owed money.
Setting out to rebuild his life from scratch, Willie has spoken to the BBC who have vowed to stand by him – giving him a vital lifeline.
Morose: Snooker champion Willie Thorne has gone bankrupt
He said: “The BBC have said what’s gone on is ‘off the table’. They say they enjoy what I do and that means an awful lot. Nobody knew about anything that was going on at home during the coverage of the World Championship.
I asked Dennis Taylor and John Virgo to borrow five grand. They both said things were ‘a bit tricky’. I think they probably knew it would be for gambling.”
Another person who Willie has turned to in the past is old pal Gary Lineker. The pair have been mates for more than 30 years and starred together in the Best Of Friends series.
Willie says: “I borrowed 10 grand years ago from Gary when I was in trouble. My mum rang him up and Gary helped.” But he resisted asking Gary for help this time.
He said: “Since Gary divorced from his first wife and I split from my ex wife Fiona, we have drifted apart a little. But Gary has helped me. He has been a support and a dear friend.”
Stroll: Snooker champion Willie Thorne with supportive wife Jill
The ordeal has had a devastating impact on Willie’s health. He suffered a stroke four years ago and believes the stress caused by his gambling addiction may have contributed.
He also suffers from depression and has to take medication to sleep at night. He said: “I’ve put on two stone. I eat when I’m depressed.”
Despite the turmoil Willie, who has not placed a bet in three months, is determined the future will be brighter. Since retiring from professional snooker, he has become a top after-dinner speaker.
He said: “I never want to see another betting slip in my life. The grief gambling has caused me is immeasurable.
"The last two years have destroyed me. I never went out with the intention of hurting anyone but there are people I may never be able to pay back and I’m truly sorry for that.
“Now I just want to try and put things right. I’m at rock bottom but I am desperately going to try and get back up.”
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house is barely enough food to feed a mouse. Our stockings had holes, chimney no heat, I waited in hope they’d return from the casino with something to eat. I’m a child of parents who got into bed with an industry that puts dancing fruits, bars and bells in your head.
My siblings were nestled all snug in their beds, this year it’s not sugar plums but despair in their heads. As I watch them drift off for a long winter’s nap, my prayers were for my parents to never go back. Then out in the driveway I heard such a crash, I ran to the window and threw up the sash.
Those lights of disaster made my vision clear but I couldn't comprehend what to my wondering eyes should appear, was it police cars and officers in full gear? Mom’s hysterical using words I dare not repeat. Dad’s thrown down so quick, now there’s no doubt our future is bleak.
More rapid than alcohol and drugs it came, and those in our government swear its okay. Once legal they whistled, and shouted, and called them by name! “Now Harrah’s! Now, Sugarhouse! Now, Mohegan Sun, and Hollywood! On, Parx! On Sands and Mount Airy! Throughout the state we’ll fill tax coffers for all! Now Bet away! Bet away! Bet away all!
Their money blows away in those slots like clouds in the sky, and so will their homes and families go by! So up to the house-top in debt they will be, with bankruptcy, foreclosure, and divorce bringing them to their knees.
One day in Philly I heard a man say we must stop the breeding of casino gambling degenerates today! He was dressed all in black, from his head to toe; he looked more like a gambler than a casino foe. His eyes-how they widen, his demeanor changed, as he addressed the non-ill effects of casino gambling our government proclaims.
His hands moved like pistons, his anger was seen as he exploited this industry like a well oiled machine. A bundle of safeguards he flashed out loud, things like no comps, no free booze, and no credit aloud.
Then he said something that made me think twice; “make casinos send monthly statements showing their sad plight.” I thought of my family and where we might be, if they got monthly statements and casinos never opened near me.
Before he left I heard him say, “Merry Christmas to all” then he exclaim, “if we sit back and do nothing we’re all going to pay and those long sleepless nights may come your way.”
Hopefully you will understand the importance of my cause, and you will help stop the Gaming industry from ‘BREEDING’ compulsive casino gambling degenerates who will become criminals by contacting your state legislators and telling them to put forth (CASINO MONTHLY STATEMENTS) legislation in your state.
To learn more about my credentials on this subject go on line and Google-up Bill Kearney on casino gambling.
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