A former executive with the tech retail chain Fry's, under indictment for skimming millions in kickbacks from vendors, had some very specific preferences when visiting Vegas resorts as a "high roller" guest, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Ausaf Umar "Omar" Siddiqui, former vice president of merchandising for the retail chain, insisted on the following comps when visiting Vegas casinos: 

• Bowls of golden raisins and warmed mixed nuts, and bowls of certain kinds of peppermints, adorned "with a single rose"
• Dom Perignon champagne in the fridge, plus a long list of other spirits from sake to cognac
• A "badger hair" shaving brush

and so on, and so on. On the other hand, don'ts included: 

• Never, never approach him from behind.
• Don't use white vases in his room.
• No one would be admitted to his suite except a butler assigned to meet his needs.

 It's pretty unbelievable... I think it was the thing about the butler that finally got me.  Check it out -- the list goes on and on and is endlessly entertaining.  According to the statements of former employees, servants and vendors in this story,  Siddiqui was obnoxious and utterly selfish, expecting to be treated like a king and throwing tantrums when he didn't get his way.

If you wonder why the casinos treat their "high rollers" with such deference, note that Siddiqui, the son of a Pakistani diplomat, lost up to $120 million at their tables. So "high roller" must be a sort of code for "so stupid and vain he doesn't realize that it costs us relatively nothing to make him feel pampered while we soak him for tens of millions." Or, as the guy's own lawyer says:

"Casinos call people like Mr. Siddiqui a 'whale,'" said Eric Sidebotham, a Morgan Hill attorney who represents Siddiqui and other troubled gamblers. "He's a big carcass you can feed off for a long time. They will pick away at the carcass for every last penny until you are deep in the hole."