March
14 2001
High-Roller
Hides Casino Winnings From Bankruptcy courts
Sometime in June
1995, as the financial empire he built on high-pressure sales and
manipulation of penny stocks was collapsing under a regulatory
assault, Robert E. Brennan handed his trusted offshore banker a
black case brimming over with $4 million in tax-free municipal
bearer bonds. Since Tuesday, prosecutors had been painstakingly
laying out the first leg, on charges that Brennan, a Las Vegas
high roller who had a $750,000 line of credit at the Mirage
hotel-casino, hid a half-million dollars' worth of casino chips
from the bankruptcy courts only to cash them a month after filing
for court protection from his creditors. Although Brennan, 57, has
amassed as much as $200 million in civil and regulatory penalties
because of his companies' dealings, this is the first time that he
has faced any criminal charges. In all, he is charged with 13
counts of bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and making false
statements. Evidence of his lifestyle during the 1990s was on
display in the courtroom this week as Mirage employees told of
Brennan's frequent gambling visits. They said it was not uncommon
for him to bet $20,000 a throw at the craps tables. Casino records
showed that he amassed and paid off nearly $1 million in markers
during a three-year period. After a five-day visit over the 1995
Labor Day weekend, just a month after filing for bankruptcy,
Brennan cashed in $525,594 in chips, even though activity and
rating slips maintained by floor managers and others on high
rollers seemed to suggest that he had had a losing outing. Brennan
is also known in Las Vegas for one of his company's failed efforts
to redevelop the El Rancho hotel-casino.
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