Tropicana agrees to $250,000 fine for violations

CARSON CITY -- The Las Vegas Strip's Tropicana hotel-casino agreed to pay a $250,000 fine for illegally collecting gambling debts in Korea.

The casino will also submit to the state Gaming Control Board a new policy on the collection of debts in foreign countries.

The settlement between the Board and the Tropicana was signed last week and now must be approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The board said there was no evidence the Tropicana tried to engage in any money-laundering transaction or there were any willful acts or omissions by officers in the hotel-casino.

The board, in its original complaint filed June 24, had asked for fines ranging from $225,000 to $900,000. In the settlement, the board agreed to dismiss two of the nine counts; the Tropicana admitted to six of the counts and one count was modified.

Korean law requires residents to notify the government before incurring any debt larger than $10,000 with non-residents. It also prohibits non-residents from carrying more than $10,000 outside the country without special permission.

The board dismissed two counts alleging the casino approved large credit play -- including $900,000 in one case -- to Korean visitors without securing government clearance.

The Tropicana admitted some of its agents went to Korea in 1996 and collected more than $200,000 from one player.

Because of concerns about the Korean financial transaction laws, the player's checks were placed in a bank deposit box. Tropicana marketing representative Charlie Kim then had an unlicensed money transfer agent move the funds into the United States without reporting them.

The unlicensed agent was paid $12,402 and the rest went to the Tropicana.

The hotel-casino also admitted Sammy Jung, its executive director for Far East marketing, went to Korea on several occasions in 1997 to collect gaming debts and used unlicensed transfer agents to get the cash into the United States.

Jung was found guilty of violating Korean law in November 1997 and received a one-year suspended prison term and he was forced to surrender about $100,000 in markers he possessed. At least one of Jung's superiors was aware that Jung was paying a commission to an unlicensed and unregistered money exchange agent to collect gaming debts.

The complaint said Jung "secretly imported" $850,000 into the United States from Korean residents in April and June 1997.

The casino also failed to properly record the collection of these debts, a violation of the state gaming regulations, the complaint said. In addition, Jung on two occasions admitted at U.S. Customs he was carrying more than $10,000 in currency into the country, but he failed to fill out the required forms.

The board said that since Jung's arrest, the Tropicana has "taken aggressive and prompt remedial measures" to prevent future violations.

The hotel-casino suspended credit play for Korean players; joined a consortium of Las Vegas casinos in hiring the Baker & McKenzie law firm to outline restrictions in foreign countries on collection of gambling debts; and has improved procedures to report required transactions to the state.

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