When federal agents raided Racing Services Inc.’s satellite gambling
site in south Fargo, Candi Sucik was among the tellers taking bets in
the basement from high-rollers with code names like “Boomer” and
“Cigar.”
But instead of shutting down the betting, Sucik said company officials
sent her to RSI headquarters several blocks away and set her up with
another betting machine -- in the office of RSI vice president Raymundo
Diaz.
Sucik and her husband, William Sucik, delivered the most compelling
testimony yet Friday in the trial of RSI president Susan Bala and her
now-defunct simulcast sports-betting company.
Bala and RSI face 12 felony charges related to illegal gambling and
money laundering in U.S. District Court in Fargo. Bala is accused of
raking in more than $99 million in bets at an unlicensed betting parlor
at 1318 23rd St. S. from October 2002 to April 2003.
Bala’s defense attorney, Mark Beauchene, said during opening statements
Thursday that RSI employees didn’t tell Bala about problems with a
betting system that caused the wagers to go unreported.
Diaz pleaded guilty Tuesday to three of the charges on behalf of
himself and his company, Global Contact Inc., which leased the site.
The Suciks, who now work at a casino in Iowa, said they were employed
at a gambling parlor in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, in fall 2002 when they
and five other tellers were told to move to Fargo.
Candi Sucik worked for Global Contact. Her husband is employed by
Andrew Robert Inc., a consulting firm that seeks out the best off-track
betting sites for high-stakes gamblers.
Andrew Robert Inc. is named in three of the money laundering charges
against Bala and RSI. The grand jury indictment says RSI made three
“rebate” payments to the firm totaling $690,267.
William Sucik said the firm’s owner, Robert Gregorka of Las Vegas,
lined up bettors to use the lower level of the Global Contact site. The
bettors weren’t physically there, but rather each bet using an account,
a type of betting known as account wagering. The tellers received the
bets, mostly by phone, and punched them into tote machines, he said.
When the tellers left Mexico for Fargo in early October 2002, William
Sucik said he asked RSI employee Rhonda Hiatt whether they needed to be
licensed at the Global Contact site.
“I was told, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ ” he said.
William Sucik said the Global Contact site placed some bets through an
Internet system, but it was plagued with errors and they quit using it
in January or February 2003. He said he spoke to Bala only once about
the Internet system but didn’t tell her about the problems.
“I told her it was working out OK,” he said.
Candi Sucik said tellers were told they’d have to learn how to use the
Internet system but never did. She said she handled $30,000 in
phoned-in bets daily from “Boomer” and $20,000 to $30,000 from “Cigar.”
After the FBI and IRS raided the site on April 28, 2003, Candi Sucik
said Hiatt told her to report to RSI headquarters, where she continued
to enter bets into a tote machine in Diaz’s office.
“We were given forms to fill out for our licenses, but I never heard what happened to them,” she said.
Former North Dakota Racing Director Paul Bowlinger said RSI simulcast
coordinator Mike Cichy first raised concerns to him about what Cichy
called a “rogue site” in south Fargo.
Bowlinger said Cichy provided an internal report of the total bets
handled by RSI the week of April 7-13, 2003. It showed that RSPN, which
stands for Racing Services Pari-mutuel Network -- a site Bowlinger said
he knew nothing about -- handled $4.4 million in bets, or about
$900,000 more than the 10 licensed off-track betting parlors in North
Dakota combined.
“I was stunned -- and happy I had a back on my chair --when I saw that number,” Bowlinger said.
Beauchene asked Bowlinger if he was aware of negotiations between RSI
and Fair Circuit Horse Racing Association to involve the charity in
account wagering.
“I know there was dialogue,” Bowlinger said.
The Forum
