Five accused of scamming more than $1M at Atlantic City casinos – Courier Post

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ATLANTIC CITY - Five New York City residents are accused of stealing more than $1.1 million from casinos here through a bogus-check scheme.

The suspects allegedly exchanged phony bank checks for gaming chips at five casinos between Aug. 26 and Aug. 28, said the Attorney General's Office.

Three of the casinos Borgata, Caesars and Ocean each lost $284,000 to the scheme, the agency said in a statement Thursday.

The Golden Nugget and Hard Rock casinoslost $134,000 apiece.

The defendants were caught executing a sophisticated financial scheme spanning multiple casinos and over a million dollars in fraudulent checks,Acting Attorney General AndrewBruck allegedThursday in announcing charges in the case.

The suspects allegedly presented each casino with two fake checks, one for $150,000 and another for $134,000, the statement said. The checks appeared to be from TD Bank and Bank of America.

Hard Rock's loss was lower because it denied a$150,000 check. Golden Nugget reduced its exposure by telling a suspect she could only receive incremental amounts on a$134,000 check.

One suspect, 53-year-old Qingtao Zhang, was detained earlier this month in Amsterdam.

Investigators still are seekingXiuhuan Zhang, 65;Shuai Liu, 30;Peng Cai, 33; and Sen Ge, 29.

Additional individuals are under investigation, the prosecutor's office said.

An indictment accuses the suspects of conspiracy, theft by deception and attempted theft by deception.

The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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Five accused of scamming more than $1M at Atlantic City casinos - Courier Post