Admiral denies role in chips

WASHINGTON — An admiral linked by Navy investigators to counterfeit casino chips denied Sunday that he played any role in making them.

Investigation records say his DNA was found on the underside of an adhesive sticker used to alter one of the phony chips, but previously undisclosed emails indicate that the presence of his DNA is not conclusive evidence he was involved in the fakery.

Rear Adm. Timothy M. Giardina, who was fired last year as No. 2 commander of U.S. nuclear forces at an early stage of a Navy criminal investigation into the counterfeit chips, acknowledged playing the fake chips at a poker table in the Horseshoe Casino in Iowa.

But he denied any involvement in the counterfeiting or even knowing the chips were fakes.

The three chips in question were altered with paint and stickers to make genuine $1 casino chips look like $500 chips.