The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 16

A16 The Sacramento Bee Sunday January 29 1984 Nevada US Join Forces To Fight Casino Crime wihaPqcnik FESTIVAL CONCERTS '84 indictment charging continued skimming at the Stardust On Dec 4 the Gaming Control Board moved into the Stardust and took possession of it then got a state court order approving the hiring of temporary management to replace Sachs and Tobman Sachs went to the Nevada Supreme Court which told the Nevada Gaming Commission that it should give Sachs a hearing In his testimony at that hearing Sachs denied that he had been negligent that he was involved in skimming and that there was a hidden ownership in the Stardust Those Stardust employees under Federal indictment in the skimming conspiracy case are Louis Salerno 56 Trans Sterling casinos manager Frederick Pandolfo -44 assistant casino manager Lawrence Carpenter 34 Stardust cage cashier Vincent Sammarco 60 a casino executive and James Gabriele 68 a casino messenger Five others were indicted on criminal contempt charges for refusing to answer grand jury questions All pleaded not guilty A defendant found guilty of all 13 counts included in the federal indictment could receive 76 years in prison and fines of ically have tried to drive out concealed ownership In the belief that need to produce cash dividends to satisfy these secret interests leads inexorably to skimming Success has come when Nevada had help from Federal investigators The issue has become more important as population has grown with thousands of people dependent on the casinos for jobs For example Trans hotels employ 5000 people and the company reported gross income last year of about $140 million of which $93 million came from gambling winnings In December at an administrative hearing in Carson City that led to the demand that Sachs sell his gaming interests a federal agent described his observations of a gambling table that he said was used in a skimming scheme State licensing officials said they could not recall the last time a federal agent had testified in a state gambling license hearing Last June in a formal private meeting the state told Sachs and Herbert Tob-man the executive vice president of Trans Sterling and general manager of the Stardust that its investigation showed their employees were skimming and warned them that it must stop As autumn passed it became evident to the state that a federal investigation was about to lead to an to halt skimming at the Stardust and waived their rights to appeal any action taken by the state against them The indictments and the forced sale of the Stardust were the first major results of the recent cooperation between federal and state agencies which had been at length for many years The indictments indicate an intensified effort by state gambling regulators to get tough on hidden ownership are investigating other said Patricia Becker a member of the state Gaming Control Board Stardust was our top priority What we are trying to do is establish the truth about some places While we have some excellent companies in gaming in Nevada there are a few we have problems The new investigations also suggest that skimming is more extensive than previously thought In the past decade investigators say at least $14 million has been skimmed from the profits Many law enforcement officials say privately that they believe the $14 million represents a fraction of the amount that has been diverted from the Stardust to organized crime figures in Chicago Milwaukee Kansas City and Cleveland For 25 of the 50 years that Nevada has licensed gambling state regulators period By Wallace Turner New York Times LAS VEGAS State and federal agencies have joined efforts In the past year to inaugurate a new tougher era of law enforcement directed against casinos suspected of skimming gambling winnings and passing the money to concealed owners in organized crime The initial target of this new crackdown is the Stardust hotel and casino described by one federal agent as flagship of organized crime on the The Stardust more than any other place has for 25 years symbolized the failures of gaming regulations in Nevada On Sept 30 1983 and again on Jan 11 the Stardust and associated holdings were hit with federal indictments charging hidden ownership and skimming a process by which some of the profits are secretly diverted before they are entered on the books Also on Jan 11 Allan Sachs the sole owner of record of Trans Sterling Inc which controls the Stardust bowed to pressure from state gaming regulators who threatened to close the casinos and agreed to sell the company within 130 days He and another Trans Sterling official also agreed to pay a $3 million fine for failing Feb 17 18 TWO DIFFERENT RECITALS 8 PM Hir Johnson HS Aud POGACNIK EINAR STEEN-NOKLEBERG piano SchubertBartokBeethovenBeyer US premier) Feb 19 Sun) a BACH CELEBRATION 3 PM Pioneer Church WgACNIK JAY SYDEMAN MATHEW KREJCI flute CARL NALUAI conducting BRANDENBERG ENSEMBLE WORLD PREMIER SYDEMAN BAROQUE COMPENDIUM' Pre-Concert lectures by POGACNIK and SYDEMAN POGACNIK plays Solo Bach Sonata 3 Concerto Min "Pogacmk held the packed church Glackin Sacramento Bee triumph of technique and spirit' -FRANCE Tickets from $5 TOWER NORTHRIDGE MUS CTR Auburn Placervtlle RECORD SHOP For info call 967-3383 Presented by ARTS IN THE IMAGE OF MAN A non-profit Arts Foundation Nuclear Sacramento Bee Want Ads Serving Socromento Since 1857 Call 444-3113 Int'l Depression Glass Club ALL GLASS SHOW SALE Feb 4 5 Adm $200 Sat 10-6 Sun SIERRA INN 2600 Auburn Blvd Sacramento ALL PRICES SLASHED Continued From Page A4 sons think about nuclear energy in the same unconcerned way they view power produced from oil coal or natural gas nuclear power is to survive in our society the only way is if the public is convinced that nuclear power is Rep Leon Panet-ta D-Calif said last week as a House subcommittee continued its hearings on federal oversight of Pacific Gas and Electric Diablo Canyon plant at San Luis Obispo The issue of believability being tested at Diablo where the NRC is investigating nearly 200 allegations of design and safety problems Panetta said Because many people are worried about nuclear power the whole utility industry "hangs by the thread of its weakest nuclear said James MacKenzie Washington director for the Union of Concerned Scientists a group critical of nuclear power He noted that utility companies had ordered 26 coal plants in the last six years and not a single new nuclear unit Coal uses known technology and is more predictable than making it seem much less risky to utility' companies MacKenzie said No new nuclear plants will be ordered during the 1980s Yergin of Cambridge Energy Research has predicted However industry optimists see things moving their way later in the decade Although the nation is using less oil than it did 10 years ago the consumption of elec tricity is up substantially advocates of nuclear power point out Economic growth seemingly demands an expanding supply of electric power Electricity consumption declined in 1982 but jumped 33 percent last year matching the overall growth rate of the national economy Continued prosperity will bring several more years of increased electricity use possibly enough to convince utility executives that they must build new power plants said Carl Walske president of the Atomic Industrial Forum an industry trade group By the late 1980s Walske said state public utility commissions may agree that more electric-generating capacity is needed and politicians and the media will recognize it Nuclear power would then enjoy a new more receptive climate Until that day comes the industry will sustain itself by finishing plants now under construction and servicing existing units while looking to foreign markets for new orders according to Walske Two major reactor suppliers Westinghouse and General Electric have embarked on separate ventures with Japanese firms to develop new reactor designs Although conceding that electric 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