Asian 'whale' arrested on bad check charges

One of the biggest gamblers in Las Vegas history is accused of writing $8 million in bad checks to pay off gambling debts at Caesars Palace and The Rio.

Metro police arrested Singapore resident Sukarman Sukamto as he stepped off a private Mirage Resorts Inc. jet carrying him from Honolulu to Las Vegas last Friday to attend the opening of Bellagio.

Over the past 15 years, the native-born Indonesian has lost more than $100 million gambling in Las Vegas, sources said.

His wealth, penchant for risk-taking and courtly demeanor made Sukamto one of the most coveted "whales" frequenting the ultra-high limit baccarat games at Southern Nevada's premier resorts.

Such gamblers are often granted credit in the form of markers, and losses are sometimes discounted as much as 20 percent to encourage payment.

But the worsening economic turmoil besetting Asia, Indonesia in particular, has resulted in huge financial losses for the super-rich whose holdings include Pacific Rim real estate and stocks.

Chairman of the Bank of Honolulu and a real estate magnate who sold land the state used for its new Hawaii Convention Center, Sukamto has also developed large condominium projects in Waikiki.

The Asian financial crisis has caused a sharp slump in Hawaii's tourist industry and real estate prices have plummeted. And currency devaluations in several Asian lands have made it more costly for some players to settle debts in dollars.

"Mr. Sukamto denies that he's guilty of a crime," his Las Vegas lawyer, David Chesnoff, said today. "He never intended to defraud anyone. He's a world-renowned businessman who hopes to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible."

Sukamto is charged with writing five checks totaling $6 million, all payable to the Rio Suite Hotel & Casino, last Jan. 29, and two $1 million checks in June and July 1997 to a Caesars Palace subsidiary.

The complaints allege he wrote the checks, drawn against accounts at Hawaii National Bank and Citibank in Singapore, knowing there wasn't enough money in the accounts for the drafts to clear.

Sukamto, 39, was held overnight at the Clark County Detention Center on $6 million bail. He was released after bail was reduced to $200,000 the next day.

After his release Saturday, sources said, he checked into the Bellagio and promptly lost $5.5 million playing baccarat.

Executives at the Mirage Resorts property, as well as at Caesars and The Rio, couldn't be reached for comment today.

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