Scammers convince Michigan casino employee to give them $700,000, feds say
A man was arrested and charged for his role in a scheme that netted $700,000 from a Michigan casino, federal officials said.
The 43-year-old man was charged March 7 with theft for stealing from the Four Winds Casino, which is owned by the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Tribe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.
The casino cage manager received a call July 30 from a person falsely claiming to be the tribal chairperson in need of cash to make an “urgent” payment, according to the criminal complaint.
The manager also received several text messages from someone falsely claiming to be the casino’s cage director, telling the manager to follow the caller’s instructions, the complaint said.
Believing the caller, the employee gathered the cash from the casino cage, put it into a large handbag and drove it from the Hartford casino nearly 85 miles to Gary, Indiana, according to the complaint.
The employee then handed the cash to two men, prosecutors said. They drove off in a Chrysler Pacifica, which was registered in Illinois under the 43-year-old’s man wife.
An investigation by the FBI and tribal police connected the man to the vehicle. The investigation also found the fraudulent call came from a Cancun, Mexico, phone number, according to court documents.
Reportedly, three people were involved in the heist. There is no word on charges or arrests of the other two.
Officials later found some of the stolen cash while searching the man’s Chicago home Feb. 28. The paper band around the cash was labeled with “HARTFORD” and the date of the heist, the complaint shows.
The man’s attorney could not be reached by McClatchy News.
The attorney told the court that his client is not living in the U.S. legally, but he has no criminal record, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The man had fled the home by the time officials arrived for the search warrant at his Chicago home, but his 23-year-old daughter told investigators he had suddenly obtained a lot of money, the complaint said.
The daughter also told officials he purchased two trailers worth $90,000 and was living in one of them in Batesville, Indiana, according to the complaint.
Investigators also found two handguns in a vehicle at the Chicago home, the complaint said.
“Unfortunately, instances of telephone scams at casinos are on the rise across the country, impacting both tribal and commercial gaming operations,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in the release.
Gary is about a 30-mile drive southeast of Chicago.
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