http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-9/1213677313131090.xml&coll=1 BY JUDY DeHAVEN Star-Ledger Staff June 17, 2008 Three former Tropicana employees -- including a high-ranking executive -- were indicted yesterday on charges they stole a list, valued at $108 million, of more than 20,000 of the casino's top players. One of them, John Conklin, is now the vice president of relationship marketing at Borgata -- the city's trendy casino. He made his mark at the Tropicana by luring sports stars and celebrities, according to people who knew him there. The case provides a window into the high-power world of casino marketing, where lists of top players can mean big money. Marketing executives, whose job it is to schmooze high rollers, are typically precluded from taking lists with them when they move onto other casino jobs. Often they don't need to -- they keep their own records and gamblers also know how to reach them. In this case, authorities said the three downloaded the identities of more than 20,300 patrons -- including addresses, phone numbers and casino ratings -- onto three separate discs labeled "Bette Midler." The Tropicana put the value of the information at more than $108 million. "We charge that these marketers stole one of the most valuable assets of the casino," Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a news release. "This type of corporate espionage and theft involving proprietary information is a very serious crime." The others indicted were Justin Litterelle, who later went on to work for Bellagio, one of the premier casinos in Las Vegas; and James DiMarco, who was trying to find a new job after losing his at the Tropicana. Each of the three charged face up to 10 years in prison and $150,000 in fines if found guilty of the most serious charges. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.com
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