Argosy Casino scammed out of $100,000+ in chip scam

[brianzz]

By RICK ALM
The Kansas City Star

A counterfeit casino chip scam has cost the Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa in Riverside more than $100,000 in recent weeks.

“It could have been worse,” said casino general manager Ameet Patel, who confirmed Monday that a man was arrested last week by state gambling agents. A cashier had detected several $100 chips that were slighter thicker than the casino’s own and did not fit properly into storage racks.

Highway Patrol gambling agents weren’t saying much Monday, noting that the investigation was ongoing.

No one has been charged yet, said Lt. Bob Zubeck, the patrol’s gambling enforcement supervisor for the state’s western district.

Zubeck said there had been several cases of counterfeit chips being passed in Missouri since casino gambling began in 1994. But he said those cases generally involved chips of poor quality.

“These were really high quality, the best I’ve seen,” he said.

Patel agreed.

“They’ve done a fairly good job,” he said. “They were very hard to spot.”

After the suspected patron was arrested last Tuesday, Patel said, the casino removed every $100 chip from play and replaced them with back-up inventory. Patel said an estimated 1,100 phony chips had been discovered so far.

He said the counterfeit chips weren’t detected until some were placed in a storage tray and, because of their thickness, did not fit properly.

“We’re cooperating fully” in the investigation, he said.

Zubeck, who declined to discuss details of the case, said there was no indication any other casinos in Kansas City or the region were hit by the counterfeiters.

The nonprofit Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Web site at www.ccgtcc.com lists and depicts more than 175 fakes, counterfeits, movie props, manufacturers’ samples and promotional chips circulating in the collectors’ marketplace. Almost a dozen of those shown are known counterfeits.