Government: Man held documents hostage

A truck driver who last year obtained a pile of confidential documents that included personal information about Harrah's Entertainment patrons contacted the casino company and told executives he wanted to do the right thing, one Harrah's employee said.

But in trucker Jeffrey Greer's mind, the right thing was to hold the records hostage until the gaming giant paid him a total of $350,000, according to the federal government.

Greer was indicted last year on charges including interference of commerce by threat and use of fear and use of interstate facility in aid of racketeering. He is on trial in federal court this week.

A portion of the payment Greer sought, $100,000, was for a short-term security consultant position at the casino so he could explain to executives the security failures that allowed him to secure the records. The remainder, $250,000, was for the return of the documents he obtained.

Unsure whether Greer had hacked into their computer system, panicked Harrah's executives agreed to meet the truck driver's demands during a gathering in Tennessee.

FBI agents posing as Harrah's employees accompanied the executives to the meeting, which was secretly recorded and filmed. They took a 3-inch stack of documents and presented Greer bogus checks.

According to the government, Greer had no knowledge of leaks within Harrah's and did not break into its computer programs.

Greer was a truck driver for French Trucking Company, which was responsible for hauling paper refuse from Southern Nevada to a recycling factory in Alabama.

In March 2007, Greer unloaded locked bins of records at the factory, but discovered a stack of records in the back of his truck. He examined the documents and quickly realized their value, according to the government.

"The first thought in my mind is Harrah's would not be happy with this floating around," Greer said to executives during the recorded meeting. "I didn't squeeze Harrah's as hard as I could."

Greer also told Harrah's that the money he sought "is peanuts" to the corporation.

The documents had personal information on about 60 Harrah's customers, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and credit line information. One of Harrah's gamblers whose information was in Greer's possession showed the man had more than $1 million in markers.

According to Harrah's executives, they were fearful Greer would destroy the casino's reputation by spreading word that there was a security problem at the property. They also feared that cases of identity theft could arise or that Harrah's competitors would be given the information and woo valued gamblers away.

The gambler information would be "highly desirable to a competitor," said Harrah's executive Randy Reilly.

The company also feared it could become the target of a class-action lawsuit if its patrons learned the Greer obtained their personal financial information.

When Greer turned over the information, he vowed he made no copies and had no other documents.

His trial is scheduled to continue today before U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.