$5 mil. seized in LV linked to N.Y. betting

Gary Thompson

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Authorities seized at least $5 million in cash from telephone-betting accounts at several Las Vegas casinos in an alleged $400-million-a-year illegal betting network reportedly linked to New York's Gambino and Genovese crime families.

Raids on scores of phone-wagering accounts and safe-deposit boxes linked to high-stakes poker player Howard Lederer resulted in individual seizures of amounts ranging from a mere 90 cents up to $500,000, officials said.

In addition to the cash, authorities found voluminous documents and computer records during weekend raids at Lederer's Las Vegas home, office and various casinos where he maintained phone-betting accounts and safe-deposit boxes, according to State Gaming Control Board officials.

In New York, authorities filed civil actions seeking forfeiture of $12 million in personal assets, including homes, bank accounts and other property owned by Lederer and two alleged mobsters, Frank Tramontano and James Rossi.

While no Las Vegans have been arrested yet, officials said the investigation is continuing. New York authorities said "a big, politically connected Las Vegas developer" is among those whose name appears on wiretaps and other evidence.

The raids were part of a cross-country wiretap investigation into mob gambling operations allegedly conducted by Rossi, a reputed Genovese family associate, and Tramontano, who authorities said is a member of the Gambino crime family.

"One illegal enterprise operated under the management of Rossi and Lederer, who are named as defendants in a civil-forfeiture action," said Kings County, N.Y., District Attorney Charles Hynes.

"The Rossi-Lederer enterprise was composed of a New York group called by its workers 'The James Gang' and a Las Vegas group known as 'The Annex'," Hynes said.

Court-approved wiretaps of New York City restaurants and "wire rooms" disclosed that Lederer allegedly phoned the Eastern bookmaking locations from his Las Vegas office or home with information about college football wagering lines.

"He'd say, 'Here are the odds for Rossi's wire rooms. I want you guys to open at such-and-such hours and booking such-and-such games,'" said an investigator who requested anonymity. "And then he'd place bets with those books."

The investigator said officials are still trying to determine why Lederer would allegedly bet illegally with New York bookmakers when he could legally place bets by phone with licensed Nevada sports books.

One theory is that he allegedly was trying to "middle" bets for his reputed associates by taking advantage of line differences between Nevada books and Eastern bookies.

For example, Las Vegas sports books generally posted Army as a 2 1/2- to 3-point favorite over Navy in Saturday's football game. In New York, however, bettor sentiment and greater pre-game publicity may have made Army as much as a 5-point favorite -- especially if illegal books were ordered to post such a line by someone in Las Vegas.

Army won, 28-24. A $10,000 bettor who took Army minus 2 1/2 to 3 in Las Vegas won, as did a $10,000 bettor who took Navy plus 5 in New York. Someone betting that way in the two locales would have "middled" the game, winning $20,000.

Even if the result fell outside the spread between the two numbers, the only thing at risk was the "vig," the 10 percent books generally charge on losing bets. In such a case, the two-way bettor would win one side, lose the other and sustain a net loss of only $1,000.

According to records seized during the Las Vegas raids, about 75 percent of the bets made Saturday were on college football games, the officials said.

The searches began Saturday morning at the homes of Lederer, his mother, Paul Hines and Kathryn and Michael Mintz, as well as Lederer's HL Consulting at 1815 E. Sahara Ave., Suite 209.

As a result of evidence uncovered in the initial seven raids, Metro Police and State Gaming Control Board officers conducted another "25 to 30 searches around Las Vegas," according to Nevada Deputy Attorney General Paul Lychuk.

While no arrests were made in Las Vegas, "we are conducting an investigation into what appears to be an illegal bookmaking operation," said Keith Copher, chief of the Control Board's enforcement division.

Officials arrested 29 people and seized almost $200,000 in cash from 34 locations in all five boroughs of New York City. Those raids included "wire rooms" in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, Tribeca in lower Manhattan and Maspeth, Queens.

Among the New York locations raided were several local bars and restaurants, including Bamonte's and Carfango's, both allegedly frequented by known mob members, and the Grand View Bar and Grill.

Las Vegas raids were conducted by Metro Police and Gaming Control Board agents acting initially on search warrants issued as a result of information obtained from court-approved wiretaps in New York City.

Lederer, 33, is a New York native who now lives in Las Vegas. Neither he nor any of the other Las Vegans named in the search warrants could be reached for comment.

But Lederer is well-known in high-stakes poker circles in New York and Las Vegas, where he and his sister, Annie Duke, have made their marks as first-rate tournament players.

Since 1987, Lederer has finished in the money in 11 events at the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe, winning about $250,000 in those games. His sister is one of the top female money winners in the World Series.

Both frequently are found in high-stakes, live-action poker games at the Horseshoe and Mirage, and have appeared in tournaments in other locales around the country.

The affidavits supporting the wiretaps remain sealed as the investigation continues.

"The State Gaming Control Board and Metro are doing their preliminary investigation, and it's too soon to tell whether there will be any independent criminal proceedings here in Nevada," Lychuk said.

"The performance of both Metro and the board under very trying circumstances is to be commended. They started at the searches at 7 a.m. Saturday and most of the work was done by 7 a.m. Sunday."

While he declined to identify them, Lychuk said the casinos holding accounts for Lederer were "extremely cooperative" in complying with the warrants.

"It will take some time to sift through all the info that was seized and determine who was doing what and why," he said. "The computer records and other evidence took a full 24 hours to inventory.

"We are pleased to have been of assistance to New York law enforcement with their operation. Obviously, Nevada will not tolerate organized crime or unlicensed gambling within its borders."

Among those arrested in New York were Trombantano, Rossi, Thomas Lacerra, Vincenzo Sanseverino and Dierdre Caslin.

Hynes, the Kings County district attorney, said orders attaching the $12 million in assets were served on more than 100 financial institutions and other entities in New York.

"The $12 million is equivalent to the proceeds estimated to have been received from bettors and other bookmakers" during the wiretap coverage, he said.

"A preliminary analysis of the material seized ... indicates the operations were accepting more than $1 million a day in illegal wagers," Hynes said.

He also said evidence seized as a result of the search warrants would be presented to a grand jury for possible criminal indictments.