Alleged criminal acts lead to ban from entering PA casinos

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today placed four individuals on its involuntary Casino Exclusion List, an action that prohibits these individuals from entering or patronizing any casino in the Commonwealth.

Under the Gaming Act, the Board can place individuals on the Exclusion List if they are career or professional offenders or whose presence in a licensed facility would, in the opinion of the board, be inimical to the interest of the Commonwealth, of licensed gaming, or both. The list is posted on the PGCB web site.

The Board only considers that an individual be placed on the list after a full and fair hearing process initiated by the PGCB's Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement and its Office of Enforcement Counsel. The individual is afforded an opportunity to answer a petition and receive a hearing. In the case of the four placed on the Exclusion List today, each chose not to respond or request a hearing, and a default judgment was entered.

Shoumin Chai of New York City was placed on the list due to her arrest in July 2009 for allegedly stealing funds from patrons at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem over a 13-hour period the previous month. The alleged thefts occurred when Chai intervened in ATM transactions being conducted by patrons of the casino. Chai was charged with 47 felonies and 71 misdemeanors, including access device fraud, identity theft and receiving stolen property.

Chai, who used at least 6 aliases in the past, was also placed on the New Jersey Casino Control Commission's Exclusion List in May 2009 after numerous criminal violations at Atlantic City casinos.

Andre Nestor, Kerry Laverde, and Patrick Loushil were all charged in October 2009 with crimes in connection with an alleged theft scheme in which they are accused of compromising a slot machine at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino to fraudulently claim over $400,000 in winnings over a two-month period last year.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry. To date, with nine of a maximum fourteen casinos in operation, legalized gaming in the Commonwealth has created over 8,000 new living wage jobs, revenue that has provided property tax reduction in each of the past two years for all homeowners, and funds that have reinvigorated Pennsylvania's horse racing industry. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us. At this web site, videos and information on the operation of the PGCB, problem gambling efforts and assistance, the casino exclusion list, future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, and a link to request a speaker are among the many items available.

    CONTACT:    Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey    (717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board