If you’re thinking about engaging in some high level theft, do NOT steal from casinos. A 50-year-old Southern California man who has been convicted of defrauding three Las Vegas casinos out of $1,011,400, is now facing a jail sentence of up to a whopping 360 years, as well as $4.5 million in fines. Yes. 360 years. He would have gotten a lesser sentence for murder. Depending on the circumstances, murderers receive a measly 25 years to life.
Over the course of five months, De Rong Shang (also known as Jason Shang) along with Yuli Eaton, 47, recruited people to open up bank accounts which were funded by Shang in order to apply for lines of credit at Las Vegas casinos. Once approved, the scam involved obtaining chips from the casino which they would then pretend to lose playing baccarat, in a process called “rolling the chips,” whilst secretly transferring the chips to other co-conspirators, who would later cash them and transfer the funds to Shang. The co-conspirators, who were paid approximately $300 for every $10,000 of credit they scammed, would disappear and by the time the casinos tried to collect on their markers, they would find the accounts had been emptied. This process eventually earned Shang over a million dollars.
Subsequently Shang, from San Gabriel, Calif., was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and 17 counts of mail fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 16 by U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt.
Attorney Andrew Duncan said, “Shang deceived the casinos into believing that the recruits had sufficient funds to pay back the casinos. In doing so, the defendant caused monetary losses to the casinos while enriching himself with proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.”
Shang allegedly defrauded Bank of America, Red Rock Casino, Green Valley Ranch Casino and Palace Station Casino. He is scheduled to receive his sentence on July 16th, 2012. Will he get 360 years? Don’t bet on it!
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