Gaming agents step up probe of indicted high-roller’s claims
State gaming agents are stepping up an investigation into an indicted high-roller's claims that Harrah's Entertainment casinos unlawfully encouraged him to gamble away tens of millions of dollars by keeping him in a constant state of intoxication.
Within the past two weeks, agents with the Nevada Gaming Control Board began intensive interviews with witnesses who Terrance Watanabe's lawyers say can corroborate allegations Caesars Palace and the Rio supplied him with a steady flow of alcohol and prescription painkillers as his gambling losses piled up in 2007.
As many as 20 current and former Harrah's employees are expected to be questioned, sources said.
The heightened probe comes as Watanabe's lawyers are pressing the district attorney's office to drop criminal fraud charges against the 53-year-old Nebraska philanthropist. Watanabe is charged with not paying $14.7 million in gambling markers at Caesars Palace and the Rio.
Watanabe's lead Los Angeles attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, pitched his case for dismissal last month in a meeting with Assistant District Attorney Chris Owens and Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski, who runs the bad check unit prosecuting Watanabe.
Zadrowski would not discuss the meeting, but said Watanabe's lawyers brought a box of documents relating to Watanabe's extensive play and marker payments at the Harrah's casinos. The lawyers estimate the 53-year-old Watanabe lost $112 million at the casinos in 2007.
District Attorney David Roger said he was unsure what impact the gaming investigation would have on the criminal prosecution. "We have been in contact with gaming agents who have told us they will share any information they uncover in their investigation. "
Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander would not discuss the latest developments in the Harrah's investigation. He has said the board would not take any regulatory action until the criminal case is over.
"We're moving ahead," Neilander said his week. "We're conducting the investigation in a way that isn't interfering with the criminal matter being handled by the district attorney."
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson wouldn't discuss the latest developments in the investigation.
"We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the Gaming Control Board as it looks into what we consider nothing more than an attempt by Mr. Watanabe to divert attention from his criminal activities," Thompson said.
The district attorney's office filed charges against Watanabe last year at the request of Harrah's, the world's largest casino company.
O'Donnell would not comment on his effort to persuade the district attorney's office to drop the criminal case, but he said he was pleased that gaming regulators were picking up the pace of the Harrah's investigation.
"We are gratified that the Nevada Gaming Control Board appears to be exercising its statutory authority and duty to investigate the serious allegations raised by Terry Watanabe against Caesars Palace and the Rio," he said.
O'Donnell brought the allegations to light in a 24-page complaint filed with the Control Board on Nov. 18. O'Donnell accused Harrah's Entertainment of "continuously" serving "massive amounts of alcohol" to Watanabe as he gambled when the company knew he was intoxicated.
O'Donnell also alleged Harrah's "repeatedly gave him prescription painkillers (without a doctor's prescription or diagnosis) that combined with alcohol rendered him utterly intoxicated and unfit to gamble."
Nevada gaming regulations prohibit casinos from allowing "visibly intoxicated" gamblers from continuing to gamble.
O'Donnell also charged in his complaint that Harrah's Entertainment encouraged Watanabe to gamble "often without sleep" when it knew he was a chronic problem gambler.
O'Donnell has supplied regulators with nearly a dozen names of witnesses he believes can corroborate Watanabe's allegations that the company preyed on his gambling addiction.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
