Master counterfeiter has died

kaz

Louis Colavecchio counterfeited slot machine tokens and other gaming tokens, defrauding casinos of large sums.
Interesting to read about his methods in the later part of the article. Of course, the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this was "Omega!" LOL
https://nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/louis-colavecchio-dead.html?action=click&algo=bandit-all-surfaces&block=more_in_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=166571930&impression_id=96774508&index=4&pgtype=Article&region=footer&req_id=434471360&surface=more-in-us-news

keyman64

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1040446/infamous-counterfeiter-recently-released-from-prison-dies-in-hospice-care

Zoins

I like his nickname:

Louis “The Coin” Colavecchio

Here's the book:

https://www.amazon.com/You-Thought-Was-More-Counterfeiter/dp/0990419878/

Here's his Wikipedia bio:

Louis B. Colavecchio (January 1, 1942 – July 6, 2020) was an American casino counterfeiter known as "The Coin". While residing in Rhode Island, Colavecchio defrauded several Atlantic City and Connecticut casinos until his arrest and initial conviction in 1998. He had led a gang which fabricated numerous slot machine coins using hardened steel dies of the originals, and was revealed when casinos began to notice a surplus of coins on their gaming floors. Sentenced to seven years, Colavecchio was released in 2006. He was arrested by the FBI only a few months later after having resumed his activities, and released on a $25,000 surety bond.[1] His counterfeiting equipment was auctioned off on eBay following his arrest,[2] and crimes were the subject of a documentary series Breaking Vegas from The History Channel, where he was portrayed by Angelo Fierro. Due to the initial success of his crime, casinos have slowly phased out tokens, replacing them with paper vouchers. Today slot machines will dispense a paper voucher when a play cashes out. The vouchers are then redeemed for cash at kiosks located next to the cashier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Colavecchio

Walkerfan

:'(

Jimnight

RIP

jmlanzaf

Is he actually dead or did he fake it?

logger7

Let's get the violins out for old Louey! A lot of people in organized crime have nicknames like his. During covid I've been going through the various seasons of "The Rockford Files", seems that there are more cons than criminals in organized crime. Tough to out-fox them though. They say crime doesn't pay, but it usually does for a while.

BLUEJAYWAY

Interesting man. I think the casino chips today are embedded with an ID chip. Not sure about that.

ricko

Really interesting individual....and obviously a true craftsman. He was proud of his skills, and rightfully so. I would have enjoyed splitting a bottle of wine with him....maybe two. Cheers, RickO