Control Board scolds gaming surveillance expert

David Strow

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

A high-profile Las Vegas casino surveillance executive failed in a bid to gain licensing from the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday after investigators produced evidence that he had hired a convicted card cheat and then tried to conceal his actions.

The key employee license of George Joseph, executive director of surveillance at Bally's Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas, was referred back to staff by the Control Board after an hour-long hearing. Bally's and Paris are owned by Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas.

Joseph is well known in Las Vegas, where he periodically presents colorful public seminars on how casinos spot and apprehend cheats.

The board chose not to deny Joseph's application outright, noting that such a move would have essentially ended his 20-year career in the gaming industry. By referring the application back to staff, Joseph will be able to continue at his current job, since the key employee license is not mandatory for that position, said board Chairman Steve DuCharme. But since the application remains open, Joseph will be subject to review by the board at any time.

Though no formal sanctions were handed down, officials made it clear they were not pleased with Joseph's actions.

"You have demonstrated a tremendous lack of good judgment," said board member Bobby Siller.

The controversy erupted around Joseph's decision to retain Michael McGuire, who has four arrests for casino cheating, while Joseph was investigating a card-cheating ring in 1998. Board investigators found that McGuire worked for five weeks in the surveillance room of Key Largo, a small casino on East Flamingo Road.

"This was a situation that got out of control," Joseph's attorney said. "He was trying to get more information out of an informant who he thought had a work card.

"I don't think an entire career in the industry should be highlighted by one instance of poor judgment."

Joseph told the board he first connected with McGuire after he was asked to look into a case where the Gold Coast lost $90,000 to a group of suspected baccarat cheaters. Two days later, the Frontier lost $60,000 to the same group. Joseph said he took a call from McGuire, a "street source," who asked him if he had heard about the incidents -- something Joseph said led him to believe that McGuire could be used as an informant to gain information to help bust the cheating ring.

Joseph was able to track the group to New Jersey, and caught several of the cheaters at one of Park Place's Atlantic City casinos. But one participant, who was stationed in a truck near the casino, was able to escape.

To cultivate McGuire as a source in his attempt to catch the others, Joseph said he brought in McGuire as part of a consulting contract he had at Key Largo. Joseph said he thought, at the time, that McGuire had a work card; after finding out that he didn't, Joseph said he immediately released him.

"The information (McGuire provided) was very sketchy, but since the guy in the truck was able to get away, I needed more information," Joseph said.

During his five weeks at Key Largo, McGuire often was stationed in Key Largo's surveillance room, spending long periods alone and unsupervised.

During the period McGuire worked for Joseph, McGuire received paychecks in his wife's name, Joseph admitted. Joseph also said that McGuire signed into the surveillance room using an assumed name, and that Key Largo's owners were never informed about McGuire's presence.

"(McGuire's) name is kind of infamous in the industry," Joseph said. "I didn't want other people to get the idea that we had a bad guy working there."

Both Siller and board Chairman Steve DuCharme -- both former law enforcement officials -- took issue with Joseph's claim that such measures were necessary to get information out of an informant.

"I know that it's a law enforcement concern that the guys in the white hats get too close to the guys in the black hats," DuCharme said. "We have a systems of checks and balances to prevent that. (Joseph) took active measures to circumvent the checks and balances in place.

"It is not the decision to put the person to work that concerned me, it's the coverup."

Siller noted that the incidents were particularly surprising coming from Joseph, given his long record of training security and law enforcement officials.

"There is a continuous pattern of behavior ... to deceive Key Largo," Siller said. "All of this would have been very simple if you had followed the rules.

"You, of all people, should have known better."