With plenty of cash available on hand, sometimes a chance at a nice score is just a bit too tempting for players and casino employees. Siphoning off a few bucks for one’s own personal bank account is nothing new and the “eyes in the sky” cameras that are so prevalent in today’s casino not only watch for theft from players, but also employees.
In the last week, the casino world saw some interesting alleged crimes involving employees looking for one of those “easy scores.” One involved an employee at the Aria hotel and casino in Las Vegas stealing six figures from the property. Another crime involved a bit of cash machine sleight of hand that saw a casino employee pocket five figures over the span of more than a year.
As mafia associate and casino manager Ace Rothstein notes in the popular 1995 film Casino: “In Vegas, everybody’s gotta watch everybody else.”
Quick Cash on the Sly
Cash machines offer casino players a chance to exchange slot vouchers into cash after finding a nice win or simply cutting their losses and getting some of their money back. These occasionally need some maintenance and a quick cash machine repair apparently offered an opportunity to skim some money from a Michigan casino.
According to his plea agreement, Cook’s duties at the property included unclogging currency jams in cash-out machines. After using a key card to open the devices, Cook removed cassettes filled with cash and then removed wrinkled bills which may have caused the machine to malfunction or misfed currency that also may be causing issues.
Once that was complete, Cook plea notes that “he would also steal cash from the machine.” In total, authorities believe Cook stole cash valued at $84,500 on 32 separate occasions spanning 14 months. Records in the case also note: “Defendant also admits that he converted these funds to his own use.”
From September 2021 to November 2022, an employee at the Gun Lake Casino in Michigan admitted to stealing $84,500 from the property.
“Jordan Lewis Cook admitted to the thefts in a written plea agreement with the government. His plea was accepted Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent in Grand Rapids,” WOOD-TV reported last week on the situation. “The charge, theft from an Indian Tribal Organization, is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for January.”
A punishment hasn’t been announced in the case yet.
Refunds Register Some Major Cash for Aria Hotel Employee
Access to a refund system also proved to be a bit too tempting apparently for one hotel employee at the Aria casino in Las Vegas. Police alleges that Brandon Rashaad Johnson, 38, bilked the property out of $773,000 over the course of more than a year. Johnson has worked at the property since 2013 and was an operations manager when the alleged crimes took place.
“Police said that, from July 2022 to July 2023, Johnson directed 209 refunds to a checking account and spent large amounts of money at stores including Louis Vuitton and Versace,” the Associated Press reports.
Those expensive tastes may have led to the scheme being uncovered. In July, another hotel manager became suspicious of Johnson after observing that he had been purchasing expensive items including some as gifts for a coworker.
Johnson told his coworker the cash derived from extra work he’d been doing as a private chef. The co-worker reported never seeing Johnson actually cook and that the suspect had never mentioned working as a chef before, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The employee began looking into the issue and uncovered that Johnson had been directing refunds back to the same Visa card. That led to the employee alerting management and an internal audit and investigation was conducted beginning in late July. Johnson quit his job during the same month.
Company officials discovered that the refunds were allegedly going to Johnson’s own card and police say those funds were moved among several accounts to help disguise their origin. Authorities allege he also used some of those stolen funds for the use of private jets, spa visits, purchasing a home, and more.
Johnson now faces several theft charges as well as other felony charges including money laundering, attempted money laundering, and unlawful felony act regarding computers. The suspect or his attorneys have yet to comment on the charges.
“Johnson is due for a court hearing Monday to demonstrate for a Las Vegas judge the source of money he would use to post $100,000 bail,” the AP noted, “and be released with GPS monitoring ahead of a preliminary hearing of evidence or an indictment.”
