Columnist Jeff German: Accused slot cheater’s criminal past revealed

Thursday, June 11, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

LAS VEGAN DENNIS Nikrasch is no stranger to the world of slot cheating.

Nikrasch surfaced this week as the alleged mastermind of a slot cheating scam that state and federal agents believe stole $6 million from Las Vegas casinos over the past year.

One of his co-defendants, Eugene Bulgarino of Las Vegas, allegedly has ties to Philadelphia mob associates.

Lawmen, it turns out, have been tracking Nikrasch's career of crime for a long time.

The 56-year-old computer expert, who enjoys living high on the hog, was involved in a similar slot cheating scheme in the late 1970s.

In 1986, U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben sentenced him to 15 years in prison for a scam that bilked local casinos out of $10 million.

At his sentencing, McKibben called Nikrasch a "habitual criminal" who had "engaged in a deliberate course of criminal conduct."

McKibben said he saw "little likelihood" that Nikrasch could be rehabilitated.

The judge seems to have had much foresight.

Today, after serving time in prison, Nikrasch is in federal custody again following his latest brush with the law.

A bail hearing is scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Robert Johnston on Monday.

Not surprisingly, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney's Organized Crime Strike Force plan to recommend that Nikrasch remain incarcerated without bail.

On top of everything else, Nikrasch is said to be a flight risk. He spent a couple of years on the lam before his 1986 sentencing.

His latest arrest is the result of a joint investigation by the FBI and the Enforcement Division of the state Gaming Control Board. The probe was aided by an undercover cooperating witness.

Numerous jackpots -- including one that netted a Jaguar sports car at the Luxor hotel-casino -- allegedly were rigged during the high-tech scheme.

Bobby Siller, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, says the investigation is far from over.

A new round of search warrants were executed on Wednesday.

And more arrests are likely in the future.

Those recruited to collect the jackpots for the Nikrasch group have to be very nervous.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission has begun doing advance work for its much-anticipated visit to Las Vegas Nov. 10-11.

Chairwoman Kay James recently sent letters to members of Nevada's congressional delegation requesting assistance.

James also has accepted an offer of help from Gov. Bob Miller, who has appointed a massive 54-member committee of civic and elected leaders to prepare for the meeting.

The two-day visit is likely to attract much local and national publicity, as the nine-member commission winds up a year of meetings outside Washington.

The panel, which is studying the social and economic impact of gambling across the country, will deliver its report to Congress in June 1999.

One of gaming's fiercest critics, meanwhile, plans to visit to Las Vegas next week.

The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, expects to spend a couple of days here.

The National Council on Problem Gambling is holding its first-ever conference in Las Vegas June 18-20.

Some call compulsive gambling the casino industry's Achilles heal.

The industry has been accused of being slow to address the problem, a charge casino executives deny.

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones has cut short her "goodwill" trip to London on the Concorde this summer.

It's tough to go overseas in the middle of a primary race for governor.

Jones still is billed in advertisements as the host of the 11-day trip, scheduled from Aug. 25 to Sept. 4.

But the mayor says she plans to return to Las Vegas Aug. 27 after she meets with top London officials.

That will allow her to be in Nevada for the Sept. 1 primary.

The goodwill trek was planned before Jones decided to run for governor.