Impersonator Tricks Las Vegas Casino Cashier into Giving Him $1.1 Million
A man named Erik Gutierrez, age 23, was caught by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recently. He allegedly played the role of Circa Hotel & Casino's owner in a fraud scheme and managed to trick an employee into paying over $1.1 million for fire extinguishers and other fire protection devices.
Gutierrez was charged with stealing more than $100,000 earlier this month, as reported by news station KLAS. The story began on June 17 when someone made a phone call to Circa's cashier cage. The person claimed to be the real owner of the Circa Hotel. It later turned out that he was not.
Initially, the caller demanded immediate payment of $320,000. The supervisor believed him since they thought they were talking to the actual hotel owner and honored the request. The caller said that the fire department needed to check the fire extinguishers and that they would need funds for additional safety equipment.
The supervisor followed the instructions and later met a supposed attorney for the hotel off-site. Here, multiple payments were made, including $314,000, $350,000, and $500,000 as well as smaller amounts. All this adds up to around $1,170,000.
LVMPD conducted their own investigation and found out that a car involved in the plot belonged to Gutierrez's aunt. After this discovery, Gutierrez was arrested in the lobby of a gym on June 18. Officers were able to recover about $850,000 from Circa's funds. This was stored in a bag marked 'Circa' that contained US currency bundled together. However, the remaining $314,000 is still unaccounted for.
A hearing for Gutierrez took place in front of Judge Amy Ferreira. He has been set a bail of $25,000, and if he makes the bond, he will be prohibited from going near Circa and the Fremont Street Experience. Gutierrez has a similar charge pending in the Mesquite, Nevada, Justice Court. Bail for this case is currently set at $20,000, and details are not available yet.
Derek Stevens, the CEO of Circa Resort & Casino said, "I love a good PR story, but this isn't one of them." He added that Circa will be cooperating with the LVMPD as they investigate the case. Stevens also requested not to comment further as the crimes are still being looked into.
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Source: www.casino.org
