Online Gaming Lobbying Increases

New iGaming lobbying group launched in US

By Robert Simmons

Excerpt:

The I-Development and Economic Association (iDEA) claims that it is “an association seeking to grow jobs and expand online interactive entertainment business in the United States through advocacy and education”.

It is made up of 17 firms representing a wide spectrum of the online gambling industry including: Amaya, Inc, Golden Nugget, Paysafe, Paddy Power Betfair, GVC Holdings, Resorts Interactive, Catena Media; NetENT, Sightline Payments, Continent 8 Technologies, NYX, Tropicana Entertainment, Gamesys, Pala Interactive, Vantiv Gaming Solutions, eZugi, and Ifrah Law.
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Seems Pala's money is still circling the drain.  How's that $100 million online poker investment working out?  Everyone got per cap raises this year, right?

Guilty

3rd former tribal leader pleads guilty in casino theft - Des Moines Register

OMAHA — A third former Winnebago Tribal Council member has pleaded guilty to his role in stealing from the tribe's casino in Iowa.

The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reports that Charles Aldrich entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

Aldrich is one of nine former council members accused of a conspiracy to siphon more than $327,000 from the WinneVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa. Lawrence Payer and Louis Houghton pleaded guilty last month to the same charge: theft from a gaming establishment on Indian lands. They await sentencing.

Also:

Former Winnebago tribal officer pleads guilty

Excerpt:

The indictments came after an FBI investigation determined that while on the tribal council, the defendants had given themselves raises and bonuses totaling $327,500 directly from the tribe's WinnaVegas Casino Resort without approving them at council meetings. It showed that in 2013 and 2014, the nine were issued $87,000 in gift certificates by the casino and uploads to prepaid debit cards paid for by the casino totaling $240,500. These distributions were recorded on the casino's books as miscellaneous administrative expenses, according to the indictment.

Fake Casino Chips

Counterfeiting Suspect Told Deputies She Flew to China, Vietnam for Fake Casino Chips: Docs

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A suspect in a San Diego County Sheriff's Department investigation told detectives she flew to China and Vietnam to get millions of dollars worth of fake casino chips and labels for local casinos.
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Deputies arrested Lien Do, Hao Nguyen and Ben Ven Pham on Christmas Day last year, after a detective asked a judge for a search warrant for Pham and Do's Garden Grove home.

At the casino, Sheriff detectives found $300,000 worth of counterfeit chips in the suspects' car.
"It appears that what they were seeking to do was convert those chips into cash and to walk out the casino with the cash," said District Attorney Prosecutor Daniel Shim.
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Detectives found casino player cards for Sycuan, Pala, Pechanga and Viejas.

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