Playboy Playmate Tells All in Open Court

All eyes were focused on former Playmate of the Month, Lexie Karlsen as she testified in open court on Tuesday. Karlsen had received numerous gifts from Andrew Yao, who is under indictment for multiple counts of bankruptcy fraud. Gifts given to the playmate included a new Lexus, a home, lavish luxury trips, and checks for $150,000.

Andrew Yao, a 45 year old resident of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, finds himself facing two counts of criminal bankruptcy fraud. The criminal indictments are related to the 2002 failure of Yao's business, Student Finance Corporation. More specifically, Yao is accused of lying under oath during depositions related to the company's failure.

During the 2003 deposition, Yao was questioned about wire transfers totaling $669,000 that were sent to "A. Karlsen". Yao testified under oath that the funds were used to cover maintenance costs on his two airplanes. He was also questioned about two wire transfers to Las Vegas that totaled $150,000. Yao testified that these transfers were used to provide a family event for his ailing grandfather, and testified under oath that none of the funds were used for gambling.

All of the lies and deception surrounding these discrepancies came unraveled, as the criminal court heard testimony from a former playboy playmate as to what the $819,000 was really used for. As the court heard on Tuesday, "A. Karlsen" was actually Alexandra "Lexie" Karlsen Wolfe, who was Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Month for March 1999.

According to the testimony, Yao had a passion for playing high stakes blackjack at $1,000 per hand. The high roller was frequently registered in the Penthouse suite at the Bellagio, where the casino would comp his room, food and drinks. According to an unnamed employee at the Mandalay Bay Casino, Yao once lost more than $33,000 in just 15 minutes.

According to Lexie Karlsen's testimony on Tuesday, Yao liked to raise the stakes at the table to $1,000 per hand so that he could intimidate other players into leaving the table. Then casino management would rope off the table, and a crowd would often gather to watch the high stakes action.

Unfortunately, Yao was gambling with company money. The two transfers of $150,000 were used to fund two gambling trips. One with former playmate Lexie Karlsen, and another with Penthouse Pet of the Millennium, Erica Jiles.