Two Bellagio craps dealers along with their accomplices have been?indicting in Las Vegas on multiple counts of theft and cheating at gambling, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney J. P. Raman, the?Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting.
James R. Cooper Jr., ?Mark M. Branco, the dealers, and?Jeffrey D. Martin, and Anthony G. Granito,?conspired to fleece the upscale Las Vegas casino out of over $1 million over a period of nearly two years beginning in July 2012.
Three of the accused were held without bail pending arraignment while Cooper, who is said to have cooperated with investigators, was given bail of $1,000.
Under “very select circumstances” the dealers would pay the accomplices for bets that never occurred at crowded tables.
Bellagio management was alerted to suspicious behavior by another dealer and an investigation ensued resulting in the cheating indictments. Aside from Cooper’s reported admission that the scam went on for almost two years, evidence of a?“mathematical, statistical analysis of the improbability of them being able to achieve the results they did,” has been compiled after tracking the accomplices’ game play.
Granito and Martin allegedly scooped in?$700,000 and?$800,000 respectively?throughout the course of the scam.