Poker star Johnny Chan a victim in alleged scam

TEMECULA ---- One of the poker world's most familiar names, Johnny Chan, is a victim in a scam involving The Diamond in Lake Elsinore which led to the arrest of a Temecula man, authorities said Friday.

John Robert White, 50, has been charged with seven felonies involving grand theft and non-sufficient fund checks, according to Riverside County Superior Court records. There is also a white-collar crime enhancement filed against White alleging a loss in excess of $100,000.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Silverman said Friday that the case currently involves six victims, including Chan, and totals a loss of $232,000. The crimes are alleged to have happened from December 2003 through November 2004, the prosecutor said.

White was arrested Thursday at his Temecula home, two days after an arrest warrant was issued by a judge, Silverman said.

The con entangling The Diamond and Chan took place in 2004 when White was involved with a company trying to develop the stadium and land around it, the prosecutor said.

"White gets a hold of Chan, tells him he's involved in the development of the stadium where they are planning to open a poker room," Silverman said.

"There never was going to be a poker room," the prosecutor added. But White was still able to con Chan out of about $150,000, Silverman said.

"This just shows that anybody can be taken by a con man," he said. "White dangled the carrot in front of Johnny Chan that he could run the poker room."

Chan is well-known in poker circles and is one of only two living players to win the World Series of Poker held each year in Las Vegas. Chan won the event in 1987 and 1988 and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.

White was booked at Southwest Detention Center in French Valley where he was being held Friday night in lieu of $232,000 bail, jail records state. He is scheduled to be arraigned at Southwest Justice Center on Tuesday.

News Added: 27 May, 2006

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