gambling addict who swindled a Chicago bank out of millions of dollars to
feed his obsession and ended up driving it out of business was sentenced
Tuesday to more than three years in federal prison. Adam B. Resnick, 34, of
suburban Buffalo Grove also was ordered by federal Judge Wayne R. Andersen
to pay $10.4 million in restitution for losses stemming from the failure of
the Universal Federal Savings Bank. “Whatever you do to help recover the
money, I hope that you do it in a completely honest way that does not
involve manipulation of people or any kind of deceit or preying on their
weaknesses,” Andersen told Resnick. Andersen ordered Resnick to start
serving his sentence Jan. 29, expressing concern the admitted con artist
might get into more trouble if he were allowed to remain free for a longer
period of time. Resnick pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud count. He
admitted that he engaged in a check kiting scheme at Universal to get cash
for gambling. An officer of the now defunct bank, Antonette Navarro, 38,
also was sentenced to more than three years in prison last September after
she admitted falsifying records to hide the fact that Resnick was kiting
checks – writing them on an account that lack sufficient funds to cover
them. The account was registered to an accounting firm once operated by her
brother, Terrence Navarro, who also pleaded guilty to charges in the case.
Since his arrest, Resnick has been preaching to school groups and others
about the dangers of gambling addiction. He said he is writing a book about
his life that will serve as “a cautionary tale” for gamblers.
Last August, he told the NBC television program “Dateline” he was so
addicted to gambling that he once played two blackjack games at once at an
Indiana casino and at one point had raked in $5 million worth of chips. In
return for his guilty plea to one wire fraud count, prosecutors dropped four
other charges against him.

As part of his signed plea agreement with the government, he admitted
engineering a so-called ponzi scheme under which nine individuals were
swindled. He was not charged with a crime involving that scheme but those
who lost cash will be entitled to a share of any restitution paid.

Resnick said he expects to pay the entire restitution amount.

He said that when he was gambling heavily he actually was working only four
to six days a year and yet managed to make a substantial amount of money
honestly. He said he believes he will be able to make honest money again
once he gets out of prison and use it to pay off the restitution.