Casino Financier Sent To Prison
29 May 2008
Trying to rip off an Indian casino of the Seminole Nation is definitely not a bright idea, as Ivy Kwok Ong discovered after being sentenced to jail for thirty-nine months for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and conspiracy to pay illegal gratuities. Ong played a part in a plan to rake millions of dollars from the casinos through illegal Indian gaming contracts. The sentences will be run concurrently according to the sentencing judge and Ong will be on probation for three years when he is released from prison.
Ong apologized to both the Seminole Nation and the IRS as it was his company, Carlo World Wide Operations, that financed the casinos between 2000 and 2003. Investigators were led to Ong after they received reports of illegal activities happening outside the convenience store the tribe owned off Interstate 40 and State Highway 99. The store was connected to the casino and they began to investigate the activities there as well.
The company Ong ran supplied the casinos with slot machines in exchange for a larger cut of the revenue than is allotted by the federal government. None of his contracts for expanding the casinos for the tribe were ever reviewed by regulators since they were all negotiated with him acting as the slot machine vendor and not a casino manager. This allowed him to bypass all background checks, something Ong wanted to avoid since he had alleged Nevada mob ties and $200,000 in unpaid federal taxes that were close to a decade old.
“This was a man who should never have been allowed anywhere near an Indian gaming facility,” stated the United States attorney on the case, Sheldon Sperling. “Until we have a method of tracing not only those who manage, but also those who supply or invest in tribal casinos, Indian Country remains vulnerable to infiltration by those like defendant Ong.” The tribe’s casinos were closed for almost a year because of the investigation, causing them to lose millions of dollars in much needed revenue.
The tribe, however, wasn’t exactly innocent in the case. Ong told investigators that he paid former tribe official Rick Deer illegal inducements during the time frame that was under investigation. Deer, who was on the legislative body and business entity that controlled the casinos for the tribe has since been indicted and is awaiting trial for his part in the illegal activity.
Ong has been forced to forfeit his two properties that are worth more than $1 million dollars, and pay the IRS $199,610 in restitution. The Seminole Nation also sought $19.4 million in restitution from Ong for fines and lost revenue, but the judge on the case did not order this payment due to Ong’s questionable employment future.
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Tags: casino manager, tax fraud, tribal casinos