Clever fraudsters are on the loose and conning casino cage employees out of big bucks. This has caused the Nevada Gaming Control Board to send out a memo to warn Nevada betting operators of the scam.
Cage Scam
One would think it inconceivable that a cage employee would fall for a ruse that asked them to remove money and bring it outside to an individual(s) they have never met. But it has happened, and the intelligence gathered before the scam is engaged lends credence to the “executive” who is asking for the money.
The ruse begins with a phone call from a person posing as a high-level casino executive or owner who needs immediate funds to make an emergency payment critical to the operation. The cage employee who has access to the money will receive a text to confirm the authenticity of the purported casino big wig and will ultimately surrender the money in the amount requested.
The NGCB wrote, “Subjects gain intelligence on high-level casino owners, employees, managers, and others connected to the casino’s money operations. The fraudsters then contact cage employees using a variety of scenarios to manipulate personnel based on a fear of negative consequences for casino employees and/or operations.”
The memo further stated, “This particular scam continues to evolve, and investigators have noted a shift in tactics to target gaming pits and other areas of the casino,” the NGCB wrote. “Therefore, education on the trending fraud is recommended for all cage cashiers, supervisors, managers, surveillance, security, and gaming pit personnel.”
Million Dollar Swindle
The largest heist yet from this newest scheme came about on June 17th at Circa, when an employee handed over a total of $1.17 million in cash to two men at four different locations on behalf of who she believed to be the owner of the hotel.
It has been reported that the cashier was instructed to deposit the money into a Bitcoin ATM but after making three deposits of $1900 each, the machine would no longer accept any more deposits.
She then proceeded to make several cash drops at various locations including $320,000 to a Terrible Herbst on Charleston Boulevard and Rancho Drive, $314,000, to a man at a Circle K on Valley View Boulevard at Alta Drive, $350,000 to Circa’s “attorney” at an AutoZone on Las Vegas Boulevard North at North Nellis Boulevard, and finally $500,00 to a man located at the IHOP on East Craig Road, between North Nellis and North Las Vegas boulevards.
One of the alleged con men was 23-year-old Erik Gutierrez-Martinez who lives in an East Las Vegas trailer park and was arrested on charges of theft of over $100,000. According to the report, a bag just shy of $850,000 was found with the word “Circa” on the bundle when they arrested the suspect.
“The event is very similar to a previous incident which occurred at another property here in Clark County as well as in another state,” police said in the arrest report.
Derek Stevens is the CEO and face of the swanky Las Vegas property who tweeted about the high-stakes theft: “Although I love a good PR story, this isn’t one of them. @CircaLasVegas is cooperating with @LVMPD in this investigation. We greatly appreciate their efforts to date and cannot comment further due to an ONGOING investigation.”
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