NEW JERSEY CASINO EMPLOYEES INDICTED FOR PLAYERBASE THEFT

20 June 2008

Former Tropicana employees alleged to have stolen contact list for over 20 000 players


The importance of privacy and security for players and operators alike was again underlined this week when three former employees of the troubled Atlantic City land casino Tropicana were indicted for the theft of a high-value client list as leverage for future advancement.

Prosecutors claim that the list contained over 20 300 names along with phone numbers, addresses and ratings, and that it had an intrinsic value of $108 million.

New Jersey press reports indicate that the three defendants worked together for Tropicana in Atlantic City three years ago; John Conklin as marketing vice president, Justin Litterelle as marketing analyst and James di Marco as an employee in the marketing department.

It is alleged that Conklin instructed Litterelle to download the list so it could be used as leverage in their future jobs. Conklin later became vice president of relationship marketing at Borgata and Litterelle became national marketing for Bellagio in Las Vegas, resigning voluntarily after one year on the job.

Attorney General Anne Milgram said: "We charge that these marketers stole one of the most valuable assets of the casino. This type of corporate espionage and theft involving proprietary information is a very serious crime."

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