More witnesses testify before grand jury in bookmaking probe

Friday, April 10, 1998 | 10:21 a.m.

More witnesses were called Thursday before a Clark County grand jury investigating the betting activities of golf course developer Billy Walters.

An FBI agent and two Metro Police detectives were among those who testified.

The investigation reportedly focuses on allegations Walters violated state and federal laws by placing wagers with illegal bookmakers as far away as New York.

Possible money laundering violations also are being examined.

Deputy Attorney General David Thompson and Metro Police intelligence detectives are conducting the probe, which stems from a December 1996 raid of Walters and his Sierra Sports consulting business in Las Vegas.

About $2.7 million was said to have been seized in the raid that coincided with similar court-approved searches by authorities in New York.

Walters and his attorney, Richard Wright, have declined to comment on the investigation, which first went to the grand jury April 2.

But in a motion filed a year ago, Wright maintained that Walters has been well known to authorities for years as a legitimate sports bettor.

In the motion, Wright sought the return of the $2.7 million, as well as several luxury cars and tens of thousands of dollars worth of computer and telephone equipment seized in the raid.

Wright contended that police in affidavits seeking approval for the local searches did not show probable cause that Walters and his associates had committed any crimes.

The attorney said it is not a crime under Nevada law to place a bet with a bookmaker outside the state.

Wright chastised police for continuing to hold onto the seized items.

"Metro's misuse of search warrants to take millions of dollars from this state's citizens under circumstances of this case was and is intolerable," Wright charged. "This court should find it unreasonable and return the property to the claimants and suppress the property as evidence."

The luxury cars were returned to Walters, but District Judge Jack Lehman refused to force police to give back the $2.7 million and the computer and telephone equipment. The money was placed in an interest-bearing account, which now exceeds $3 million.

Walters, who developed the $12 million Desert Pines Golf Course for the city of Las Vegas, has earned a reputation for contributing to numerous local charities and political campaigns in recent years.

His stepped-up community presence began after he and a dozen other defendants were acquitted of federal gambling charges in 1992 in the FBI's well-publicized Computer Gang investigation.

Law enforcement officers contend Walters runs one of the biggest sports betting operations in the country, doing millions of dollars worth of business a year. He is said to have more than a dozen employees.