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Christmas in Vegas
07/10 12:17 AM
You guessed it. More cash. But this time we set our scene at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yet another witness called by the prosecution to testify Friday was Mark Whitmore, who said he has been working since 1995 as a vice president for cage collections and marker operations at the MGM Grand — which means he handles banking services for customers at the hotel and casino.

Whitmore testified that according to MGM Grand records, Tongsun Park during the week before Christmas, 1996, deposited a total of $570,000 in a customer account he had opened at the hotel and casino. According to Whitmore, Park then engaged in some 49 transactions, receiving at one point $20,000 in winnings and cashing out another $65,000 on Dec. 30, when he "settled and closed his account, discharging all debts to the MGM Grand."

If you're trying to double-check the arithmetic at this point, so was I. So, apparently was Tongsun Park's counsel, Michael Kim.

During cross-examination, Kim asked Whitmore: ""Is it the case that Mr. Park during his stay in Las Vegas in late December 1996 lost approximately $485,000?"

After some back-and-forth, the witness said he could not see the exact number from the particular set of records produced in the courtroom, but "having looked at his records prior to coming, I recall that he lost 400-plus-thousand."

What next?

 



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