Dennis Rehbein sorts through the nearly 100 pounds of silver coins his brother-in-law gave him as collateral on a loan. (Court TV)

By Laura Barandes
Court TV

Dennis Rehbein testified Tuesday that his brother-in-law, Rick Tabish, gave him nearly 100 pounds of silver coins as collateral on a 1998 loan.

Appearing in court under grant of immunity, Rehbein said he reluctantly accepted the coins in November 1998 while he waited for Tabish to make good on a $25,000 loan. "With the trouble Rick was in, I didn't really want the coins," said Rehbein, "but I was just happy to have something," when the 30 days they had agreed upon for repayment expired.

Tabish had been arrested on Sept. 19, 1998 while digging up 46,000 pounds of silver Binion had buried at his desert property in Pahrump. Tabish told sheriff's deputies that he was acting on orders from Binion himself, who wanted his treasure unearthed if he died, but the 2 a.m. excavation made the officers suspicious.

On Nov. 1, 1998, Rehbein testified that he and Tabish had a meeting in Missoula, Mont., where Tabish lived with his wife, Mary Jo, and their two young children. Rehbein, Mary Jo's brother, said that Tabish asked to borrow $25,000 for his business. According to Rehbein, the two men signed an informal agreement that the loan would be paid in 30 days.

At that meeting, Rehbein said, Tabish showed him a fax that listed several types of silver coins, and offered them as collateral on the loan. Rehbein said he decided not to take the coins at first because of "the trouble Rick was in," but later relented when the 30 days had passed without any repayment.

Rehbein, a self-described amateur coin collector, testified that the coins Tabish gave him included many uncirculated silver dollars and even some "Binion Horseshoe gaming tokens." Adding further to the prosecution's contention that these were stolen from Binion, Rehbein added that the coins were held in boxes and ammunition cans — Binion's trademark storage container — which had sand in them.

Rehbein said Tabish told him that "He'd received [the coins] from Mr. Binion from work he had done," and that they had been buried at the Jean Sand Pit, one of Tabish's business ventures in Nevada. Tabish allegedly told Rehbein that "he couldn't have them in his possession because of the 'other silver problem,'" so he decided to bury them in Jean.

The defense had few questions for Rehbein, except to elicit from him that he had no way of knowing when Tabish came into possession of the coins, legally or otherwise.

Rehbein is the second state witness to appear in court under an immunity agreement. The first was Kurt Gratzer, another Montana resident, who testified that Tabish tried to hire him to kill Binion. Gratzer, however, was arrested two days after taking the stand and jailed on domestic abuse charges.