Gaming regulators look at prostitution report

Monday, Jan. 12, 1998 | 10:47 a.m.

Nevada's top gaming regulator is looking into a report that Las Vegas casino executives recently procured prostitutes for a high-roller.

State Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible said today the report in today's New York Times was the first he had heard of the alleged incident, detailed by an anonymous gaming executive at an unnamed Las Vegas resort in a report on the high-stakes competition for the world's top gamblers.

Bible said because prostitution is illegal in Clark County, incidents of that nature are investigated, usually in conjunction with Metro.

He said it may be difficult to verify the Times report "unless we could identify the executive or the resort involved."

The front-page account in the Times said an executive at a major casino in Las Vegas recalled an incident in recent weeks in which hotel employees had to devise a system of code words to deliver dozens of prostitutes to the suite of a high-roller.

According to the story, as the women arrived, "if he didn't like them, he'd give them $300 and send them away. At one point, he had 30 women in his suite at one time."

Keith Copher, chief of the enforcement division of the State Gaming Control Board, said any resort found to be in violation of regulatory or criminal acts would be subject to disciplinary action, ranging from a letter of warning, to a fine to a suspension or revocation of a license. Copher said the board conducts investigations into reports of violations and makes a recommendation to the Nevada Gaming Commission, which determines disciplinary action.