Where did the Las Vegas Mass Murderer's Money Come From?

Gun Watch ^ | 6 October, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

One of the puzzles about the mass murderer in Las Vegas is the source of his money.

His brother characterizes him as "very wealthy" and that "$100,000 is no big deal".

His real estate holdings holdings have been estimated as worth several millions of dollars.

He paid cash for his latest real estate, and gambled up to a million dollars a year, according to a real estate agent who dealt with him. From the dailymail.co.uk:

The 64-year-old, who opened fire slaughtering 58 people at a country music festival at the weekend, bought his 2,000 sq ft home in Mesquite, Nevada in 2014.

Real estate agents said Paddock told them his income came from gambling and decided quickly that he wanted to take the house because of its privacy and commanding hilltop view. He then paid for the two-bedroom $369,022 property in cash.

His brother says he was well known at lots of casinos, and they "comped" (that is gave) him lots of valuable things, such as hotel rooms and various services, to keep him coming back. From nbcnews.com:

There were 16 Currency Transaction Reports, or CTRs, filed for Paddock in recent weeks. The Treasury Department and the IRS mandate that casinos file the reports for "each transaction in currency involving cash-in and cash-out of more than $10,000 in a gaming day."

The reports don't show whether Paddock won or lost or both on the days in question. They do show that on same days there were multiple transactions.

A source familiar with the investigation told NBC News that Paddock was a frequent player "with the highest status" at Caesars Entertainment properties in Las Vegas.

Mathematically, it is highly unlikely that he "earned" a million or more a year in income by gambling. It is possible to make a lot of money gambling... if you own the casino or control the venue.

There are no indications the mass  killer owned the casino or had his own high stakes private games. In private games he could use skill to bring in large amounts of untraced cash.

Casinos do not keep "comping' people who consistently take large amounts of money out of their holdings. They go to a lot of trouble to identify people who do this, known as "card counters" and to ban them from casinos.

It is likely the mass killer lost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, maybe more. That leads us back to the question. Where did the money come from?

Could the mass killer be a real estate investment whiz, someone who was just lucky in creating an income of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars a year?

Not impossible, but not likely.

It appears the mass killer has not worked a regular job since the 1980's. Where does his wealth come from? Thirty years of high living, international travel, and massive gambling in casinos. He was an accountant, a talented one, it appears, from the people who hired him when he was a young adult.

Perhaps his wealth has been overstated.

Perhaps we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and there are uncounted millions more.

There are many unconventional sources of wealth that could be laundered through casino gambling. Here are a few. Those with imagination can think of others.

1. He was a source of intelligence for a government or governments, who paid in cash.

2. He installed a money trap into an early computer program, and it feeds him one cent per transaction from a number of financial institutions.

3. He was blackmailing one or more wealthy people, at a rate low enough to be sustainable.

4. He was involved in the drug trade.

5. He found one of the many "lost gold mines", and kept it secret.

6. He was a talented con man, and used the casinos to launder his take.

7. He was a talented player of the "liability lottery", where people sue to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in false claims. (this one seems unlikely because he lost a "slip and fall" lawsuit against Comopolitan Hotel).  Those transactions would not be in cash.

Maybe he was just a lucky investor who kept hitting the jackpot. 

It could be, but that is not the way to bet.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[Cecily]

“Where did the Las Vegas Mass Murderer’s Money Come From?”

Like Hillary, he read the Wall Street Journal and learned how to turn small investments in futures trading into big returns.

[marktwain]

You can’t buy real estate with actual cash. Red flag city.

---

Sure you can. I am not saying he did not go through a bank.

But find a seller, give them cash, and they can sign over the real estate to you.

Or, have an LLC hold the real estate, and sell the LLC for cash.

In “normal” transactions, people go through a bank for real estate transactions.

But every transaction does not have to be “normal”.

[marktwain]

I don’t recall seeing that he was ever married (or divorced!), or ever had children.

---

Married twice, divorced twice, no children that we know of.

He worked at the IRS for a short period. I have not seen any mention of regular employment after the 1980’s.

[NEMDF]

I am surprised we haven’t been treated to interviews with the ex-wives by now.

[marktwain]

The last one was at least 20 years ago.

[chaosagent]

You can’t buy real estate with actual cash. Red flag city.

---

In my experience, when someone ‘pays cash’ for a large purchase, dollar bills aren’t actually exchanged. Most times it’s a bank transfer of some sort. Or a check.

We paid ‘cash’ for an RV we bought back in 2007. I wrote a check for $104,000.

Cash just normally means it wasn’t financed in any way.

[marktwain]

Cash just normally means it wasn’t financed in any way.

---

Yes, you are correct. Cash is still used, but it is getting harder and harder to use the actual notes.

But there are “off the books” enterprises that deal mostly in cash.

Maybe more are going to bitcoin, now.

[bkopto]

HG, if there is just one characteristic of you, it is consistency!

[libertylover]

Maybe he got a government grant to study the sex lives of grasshoppers.

[silverleaf]

Weapons dealer and all the associated vices such as drugs
Why did he need TWO airplanes?
Lots of money to be made in arms dealing
Ask former California Senator Leland Yee
Who was trafficking for radical muslims in the Philippines
Maybe like Pollack\Paddock
Using that resort - which is muslim owned- to launder money

[Cementjungle]

He worked for the IRS for 10 yesrs. Maybe he gave himself some big refunds.

[marktwain]

Maybe he got a government grant to study the sex lives of grasshoppers.

---

Maybe, but there would be a long paper trail with that.

[marktwain]

Weapons dealer and all the associated vices such as drugs
Why did he need TWO airplanes?
Lots of money to be made in arms dealing
Ask former California Senator Leland Yee
Who was trafficking for radical muslims in the Philippines
Maybe like Pollack\Paddock
Using that resort - which is muslim owned- to launder money

---

Nearly all weapons dealing, on large scales, is sanctioned by one government or another.

Asking why he needed TWO airplanes is like asking why he needed TWO cars.

Leland Yee got caught.

Maybe there are large “weapons dealers” that are not sanctioned by governments out there.

But from what I have learned, the freelance types are way down on the list of dealers, mostly small scale stuff.

Much too easy to make money on drugs if you are a talented smuggler.

The movies and leftwing propaganda have blown “weapons dealer” way out beyond reality.

[TBP]

Good question.

[crusher2013]

Smuggler, airplanes and casino’s. Perfect match.

Probably a hit man. I bet this loser had murdered before.

[justa-hairyape]

Paddock did buy a house with cash according to real estate agent.

[marktwain]

Probably a hit man. I bet this loser had murdered before.

---

Something to be added to the list.

[weston]

Maybe Daddy left him a map to loot from an old unsolved bank robbery.

[buffaloguy]

I have not heard what his current airplanes are. He did own a Cirrus SR20 but sold it in 2007. 5 seater.
Did he own a work plane and a fun plane?

[marktwain]

Maybe Daddy left him a map to loot from an old unsolved bank robbery.

---

Should be added to the list.