A casino floor manager and a patron at the Red Hawk Tribal Casino have been arrested for suspected embezzlement scheme, defrauding the casino of over $200,000, California attorney general said.
Red Hawk Manager and Patron Arrested
California’s Red Hawk Tribal Casino suffered estimated losses worth $200,000 after a casino employee and a patron had conspired to defraud the establishment.
On Monday, November 18, the state’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, announced that the two men had been arrested for running the embezzlement scheme at the expense of the tribal operator.
Luc Mooc and Prak Pich were seized by police forces on Thursday last week, after the Bureau of Gambling Control and casino surveillance staff carried a comprehensive joint investigation, establishing sufficient reasons to suspect the pair had been running illegal activities together.
The official statement by investigator cited multiple wrongdoings, including conspiracy and forgery:
“Pich, a floor manager at the casino, would allegedly extend credit lines to Mooc, a casino patron, and then falsify documents to make it appear as if the credit line had been paid back.”
Attorney General Becerra explained that these credit lines were offered to patrons who then repaid the loan after a pre-determined period of time, but usually within a month. In the case of the pair, though, these funds were syphoned off and not repaid at increments of $12,000 and $14,000, Becerra explained.
The two men’s bail was set on $200,000 and they were expected in court on Monday in El Dorado. Red Hawk Tribal Casino has been subject to more attacks in the past.
In November 2018, a Georgian national had been sentenced for running a comprehensive credit scheme defrauding companies and two casinos in California – one of which was Red Hawk – out of $1.1 million over the period of six years.
More Fraud in Casinos
Another high-profile case that has been resolved just today was the alleged $5 million embezzling scheme run by eight individuals in a Miccosukee tribe’s casino in West Miami-Dade.
Arrested in August, a trio has now been sentenced, after admitting to having tampered with electronic gaming machines to cash out vouchers and exchange them at ATMs. The scheme took place between January 2011 and May 2015.
Originally, the case involved eight defendants. There was a fair bit of technological skill needed to carry out the fraud in full. To avoid detection, for example, the individuals had to do a hard reset, clearing RAM and leaving – in theory – no trace of their wrongdoing.
The investigation was conducted with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Miccosukee Police Department.
This remains one of the largest casino frauds to date.