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Subscribe to RSSSAN DIEGO -- A total of 14 suspects have been indicted on accusations they stole about a million dollars from casinos in California and Nevada.
The suspects were allegedly able to confuse the banking system, according to officials. Investigators said the suspects took advantage of a loophole in the Citibank system.
Officials said the suspects would open accounts at various Citibanks in Southern California, including San Diego. They would then go to a casino cash advance kiosk and withdraw money.
Because of that loophole, a suspect could make multiple withdrawals for the same amount of money, as long as it happened within 60 seconds and all those withdrawals would count as duplicate transactions.
Cash used to gamble
The suspect could then overdraw the account by tens of thousands of dollars.
The suspect would then take the cash receipts to a cashier and collect all the money.
Read more from NBCSanDiego.com
"Some of that cash appears to have been used to gamble at casinos where the fraud was conducted or nearby casinos, such was the volume of the gambling that they were comped free rooms at the casinos,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Coyle said.
Prosecutors said the suspects allegedly withdrew about $1 million during an eight-month period.
Authorities are still looking to arrest one person, the other 13 have already been apprehended.
FBI agents said the loophole in the Citibank system has now been closed.
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Leave a Comment:
Imagine how long a million bucks could go if done wisely.
I am sure they would have been caught sooner or later even if the money was never spent.
Its called greed.
Systems needs to be exploited in order to become more sophisticated and hack proof.
$1mil isn't that much spread among 14 perps, esp since they appear to be the type (easy money instead of working for it in a legit job) to blow through money (pun intended or substitute blow for meth, bath salts, etc.)
Smart!
1 million... and the vigirously go after them.....
John Corzine, former Dem gov. steals BILLIONS from investors, and is walking free, no charges.....
Oh that's right.... he's a big Obama campaign donor / bundler.... have to push that one til after the election.
So much for blind / equal justice with an Obama / Holder run justice dept.........
It could last awhile, but with inflation and medical costs going out of control, 1 million wont last as long as you think.
FBI agents "said" the loophole in the Citibank system has now been closed.
Did they test it ?
Split 14 ways that is $71,428 each for 8 months' work.
Mr. dirp -
Go ahead and test. Let me know how it turns out.
Do you think they filed federal and state tax returns, and paid tax on the money? If not, they can all be prosecuted for tax evasion - just like Al Capone. These charges, sentences and fines would be independent of, and in addition to, any punishments for the thefts of money and fraud charges (don't forget conspiracy, which usually throws a big multiplier on any sentence.)
Who provided the inside info? - doubtful these thieves stumbled on it by accident. Someone who worked for Citi learned how the system worked and devised the strategy.
Hooray for the bank, letting this go on for so long. A competent audit system should have flagged it the first day this process happened. Don't they balance the ATM payouts with debits from accounts? I ain't no bookkeeper, but it seems obvious that there should have been some overdrawn accounts somewhere. Maybe the bank was profiting from the casino action, so they let it go for awhile.
Dang! That's money that Mr. and Mrs. Adelson could have given to some needy person...like Mitt Romney. Of course, if we were to ever see his tax returns we would know if he really is one of those needy, dependent, victims in the 47%. Oh, well. I guess we'll NEVER know!
Typical dumbass liberal. Where did this article talk about Politics?
@tothetop777, Let's see if I got this right. It's alright for Republicans to do it but not Democrats. FU and Romney to. Oh lookie I made a Ryme. Troll
6 dogs if someone makes a comment it does not make them a troll, however if you are a liberal you will call someone a racist and a troll since your vocabulary is limited.
@6dogs, that's rich... tothetop777 calls out OP for needlessly politicizing this post, and in your eyes HE'S the troll?Since you asked so nicely, it's neither OK for Dems or Repubs.
6Dogs, A typical Liberal tough guy behind a computer screen. I am 99% positive you come from Liberal California. How is the budget over there? How are those Liberals running the very Bankrupt state of Cali? Let me know where we can meet. I will show you in person what I think of liberals.
Look at post 1.5 a Republican got political first. And none of you trolls said one word about it. Nice hypocrisy guys. tothetop777 you're a total tool no one likes you.
When regular people find loopholes it's called criminal but when billionaires find loopholes it's called the tax code. I'm not suggesting these guys were fine upstanding citizens but the garbage Wall Street has been getting away with for years is much worse.
That's one hell of a loophole. It's funny they ended up loosing back a lot of it to the casinos though. That's probably how they got caught. Not the brightest bulbs on the block.
You would think the cashiers would be suspicious when somebody comes up with a huge handful of cash advance receipts too, though.
johnbarker - That's what I was thinking, too! Didn't the cashiers catch on to this? Maybe...that's how they got caught. However, if there was that big of a loophole, I think I would have just taken the money and gone home. Not gamble it away. You're right, not terribly bright.
Krist, yes. I was also not clear on who was liable for the withdrawals, the casino or citibank? Most likely the casino had a higher liability since they were actually paying out the cash. But morons all around, that's for sure.
I'm sure one guy didn't go to one cashier with dozens of cash advance receipts. There were 14 people involved. I bet it went something like this: Everyone take four receipts and bring them to different cashiers over the course of an hour, while wasting time gambling in between, then they all move to the next casino and repeat. Do the math, that could net over $20k per hour.
I'm sure they had fun while making the banking system look stupid!
"The suspects were allegedly able to confuse the banking system"
I always look for "this is a understatement" in stories. Some tellers respond to the word "squirrel", and become confused. I know this was a computer program oversight, but someone more than likely shouted squirrel when the program was written. Or, the programmer knew exactly what they where doing. Always look for a trail of bread crumbs.
Casinos are robbers, they rake in hundreds of million of dollar a month and pay out tens of million,to bad they got caught.
Insufficient human alert!!!!!!! Hopefully Al did not reproduce.
We all need to pause and ask a very serious question: Why isn't the media releasing the names of these suspects? Why is it that when blue-collar criminals are arrested, we all know their names that very day, yet when people who know how to manipulate money decide to steal it -- which happens more and more often -- the media protects their identities? MSNBC, you and the rest of the mainstream media are neglecting your duty: NAME them!
Since when is stealing from casinos or ATM's considered "white collar crime"? And why so hostile about the lack of information? Maybe it's just not available or if you're really concerned, google other news sites, especially the local ones in San Diego. But don't accuse NBC of holding back information just because you are uninformed.
It's the same thing as robbing a Bank when there is Cash Machine on the Premises. It's that way where I live and I guess most states have similar Laws.
6dogs, that was my point. White collar crime is cheating on taxes and embezzling company funds, etc. Stealing from ATMs and Bank robbery is more of a blue collar crime.
You're an idiot Wilmer.
Wilmer is asking a very important question. I too, would like to know the names of these thieves.
William-furman, I marvel at the number of people who cannot read who the article is from. It's NBC news, not MSNBC. Microsoft and NBC severed news ties several months ago. Stop blaming MSNBC which has nothing to do with the content of any article. That includes those from the NY Times, Reuters and so forth.
Learn to read before making any comments. Otherwise stay off the 'Vine and visit Fox News.
1) Jackieboy, you're correct: Although my error doesn't detract in the least from the point of my post, I used the wrong name in referring to this site.
2) Your hyper-sensitivity to this error seems to have a political basis. I assure you, I would no more visit Fox News than I would put my hand in a fire. I am probably more progressive than you are -- and, judging from your sad need to express opinions in such a pugilistic manner ("Learn to read," "...stay off the 'Vine"), I'm probably a lot smarter and less insecure, too. Get help.
Again, Wilmer, you are an idiot.
@wilmer-furman and, judging from your sad need to express opinions in such a pugilistic manner ("Learn to read," "...stay off the 'Vine"), I'm probably a lot smarter and less insecure, too. Get help.
I believe you for got to add that your a bit narcissistic also
I think NBC is trying to break into the news business and
get away from MSNBC and Fiesty's propaganda machine.
Fiesty has been toning it down some so I guess she is munching
popcorn and loving on the polling numbers and CITI getting shafted
by peons below her level. I'm guessing that CITI has this fixed before
this was published.
You do know that NBC has been one of the biggest news media organizations since before TV was even invented, don't you?
This was more about Microsoft separating from NBC's online news business for some reason. It's not about NBC "breaking into the news business" I was hoping for less ads in the videos but that hasn't happened, unfortunately.
Yea, NBC is trying to break into the news business. Haha!
Another highly educated right winger heard from.
Those with diseased hearts claim that
President Obama is the "the worst president ever." They say that,
because he is the only president we have ever had in our history that is of
African descent. They will say anything other than what is really going on in
their diseased souls. They won’t admit that the real reason why they are
against him is because he is of African descent
"They won’t admit that the real reason why they are
against him is because he is of African descent"
THEY LEAVE THAT TO THE NRA!
he is a low life fricking african then
Oh Brother, and you couldn't some how find a way to get a "It's Bush's fault" in there!
The Latter Day Saints (Mormons)' Journal of Discourses vol 10 page 110 Brigham Young preaches: "If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain
[African race], the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot."
This is one of the reasons why former Mormon bishop Myth Romney is embraced by the typical racist because they feel that he is one of their own. But, there will be consequences for electing a self-righteous holier-than-thou zealot from a wacky cult.
The Republicans and the Romney team are hoping that racial hatred against President Obama will be enough to win the election. Former Mormon Bishop Mitt Romney knows most of the grass root
Republicans don't care about what he did at Bain to gain his wealth or how much he flip-flop on serious issues. They just want to see President Obama replaced. Even if the person replacing him is a former Bishop of a secretive cult that claims that they alone are "only true Christians."
The recent revelation about Mitt Romney and Marriott International’s scheme called “Son of Boss,” to cheat the government out of taxes due clearly shows that the rich Mormons view other Christians (and everyone else for that matter) as their cattle. Marriott International is a Mormon owned business. They enrich themselves by feeding off us. The laws of the United States of America mean nothing to them. As former Mormon bishop Mitt
Romney's wife said concerning their tax returns “We’ve given ‘you people’ all you need to know and understand about our financial situation and about how we live our life.”
Kinda off topic! Did you forget your Meds this morning?
To many games with out a helmet.
In regard to the Casino thieves. I wonder if their cut is worth spending the next 5 years in an 8 x 10Ft cell with bars on the doors and windows and a cellmate named Bubba who thinks you are kind of cute. I mean none of them really got much from this if you slice 1 Million up 14 ways. I guess they never think about that, so despite all the high Tech thievery - they aren't very smart.
I don't think the article said male and female, male, or female. Just saying.
I can guarantee you that its either one or both!
roomy Bubba or Bubette.
As someone said above - they grossed $74k each. If they gambled a lot, they probably burned through most of it (leaving no reserve for legal fees and taxes.)
This reporter should be sent back to school. Although I figured out the facts here, the story was written so poorly that the main point (the loophole) is obscured. Take a look...
So far, so good...What's the loophole, you ask?
Hold on a sec! What loophole? Well, the report doesn't tell you what the loophole actually is until AFTER they refer to it:
So, the loophole is that if you make multiple withdrawals on the same account, within 60 seconds of each other, one withdrawal won't know about the other.
The reporter said Who, What, and How. I don't see what point your going after.
Perfect way of re-writing the story. Your last line s/h been at the beginning-absolutely right.
@6dogs
The point I'm going after is exactly what I said, the loophole is referred to (as if it has already been explained) BEFORE it was explained. It's poor writing. Sure you need the 4 w's (you forget the "when"), but that alone doesn't make a good story. You also need the 5th "w" good WRITING.
Just watch. They'll get thrown in jail for years for committed such a heinous act. Never mind that the very bankers who plunged this nation into a near-depression get bonuses for ruining the economy.
Reminds me of the saying about how if certain criminals would only have applied themselves to legit business, they would do well. Maybe for a software company. That includes the ones that provide software for investment banks. As phonebook stated, they have lots of opportunities to steal.
I am not just guessing-worked for Wall St firms that provided software to money managers, investment banks, trust companies...it made me sick, literally. I couldn't ever get a straight accounting of the mortgage-backs and was worried about doing a good job. Before exotic securities were "invented", I was meticulous to the penny. Just before I decided to leave Wall St proper, I worked at an investment advisor. The accounts were always "off" and they insisted I sign off on them. I refused, esp since the accounts were NYPD and NYFD pension funds. Plus, each sub-sub account was off tens of thousands, not just a few bucks. I quit and got the job in the software company immediately because of my degrees and experience on the user side of the software.
Software company boss sent me to a high-level, post-grad Finance school to learn and come back and teach the rest of the department. However, even the professors there couldn't figure out WTF was going on. Even something simple such as a security paying interest @30/360 which s/b adjusted for the extra 5 days, and leap years, was only getting interest on 360 days! Take 5 days' interest and multiply it by all the securities out there with 30/360. We started naming the test accounts after famous criminals, with the worst examples serial killer names. Not to make light of the victims' and their families' pain and suffering. We just chose to name the accounts according to how f%$%ed the type of security was. Joel Rifkin had nothing but mortgage backs in it.
Of course, we couldn't predict this crisis but I knew something was up, that there was money floating around...
I apologize for ranting but I was an "insider", just as these guys had an "insider" who worked for Citibank at some point. The staff in our dept c/h done something similar with the 30/360 and mortgage-backs and made a fortune. The portfolio managers would still be going home every night to their multi-million $ penthouses, weekends in Greenwich or the Hamptons, because there was soooo much money "falling through the cracks". However, silly souls we were, would never dream of douing something like that. Schmucks believed in working hard every day and doing the right thing, unlike these perps.
This really sounds like someone had inside knowledge of how the ATM timing works and decided to take it to the 'bank'.
When I hear that a couple hundred 1%ers get arrested for all the money they have been stealing from us the 99%. THAT would be real news.
With all the money that the banks & casinos steal from the public ,these people should be given amnesty.They will probably now go into being leaders in the Republican party will all their business experience. Seems like they have the same qualifications as the nominee of the Republican Party. He gained his wealth by stealing the employees healthcare,pensions and jobs of the companies his vulture capitalist bought and closed and moved to China. Yes they would male fine Republican politicians..
Oh hell that million was probably better used by these crooks. Addleson would have just given it to Romney and we all know that is a stupid bet:-)
Liberal lemmings,,,,,, buying into the class warfare BS being sold by the current regime.....
Just_D_Facts: Come on don't get mad because these crooks had fun with a milliom dollars and you are stuck with a candidate like Mitt who is no fun and who isn't worth a DIME. Voting for a sink would benefit the USA more than if Romney were elected. Come on, I know you have a sense of humor, look who you have for a candidate.
gustifer seems to have overmedicated himself.
Translation at 11:00pm?
Too much Kool-aid?? - off topic again. Life isn't just about politics you know...
What are going to do AFTER the election?!?