{"id":319553,"date":"2024-05-09T12:12:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T17:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=319553"},"modified":"2024-05-09T14:40:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T19:40:40","slug":"south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Two Scammers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man accused of deceiving a South Dakota<\/a> gaming property worker out of $350K appeared in court this week. The employee collected the cash from the casino cage and turned it over to the defendant at a gas station.<\/p>\n

\"Grand
The Grand River Casino, pictured above. A suspect was arrested after allegedly convincing a casino worker to collect $350K from the cashier’s cage and then bringing it to him. (Image: Grand River Casino)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roberto Orellana, 44, of Omaha, Neb., who received the cash, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to grand theft<\/a>, according to the Mitchell Daily Republic<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judge Chris Giles denied changing the bond conditions for Orellana. There is a bond hold on him that was requested by federal authorities.<\/p>\n

The case could be heading to trial. If convicted, Orellana could face up to 15 years in prison and pay as much as a $30K fine.<\/p>\n

Employee Got Instructions<\/h2>\n

The incident began when the unnamed Grand River Casino employee, who worked in the Mobridge, SD, property\u2019s cashier\u2019s cage, got a scam text on his phone.<\/p>\n

\n

The first text told him to transfer the cash into bitcoins<\/a> at a machine in Aberdeen, SD. A second text gave the employee new instructions telling him to bring the $350K to a man purported to be a lawyer representing the casino. The two were to meet at a gas station, identified as the Dakota Sunset station, in Mitchell, SD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mitchell is near Sioux Falls, SD, about 236 miles away from Grand River.<\/p>\n

Having driven there, the casino employee turned the money over to two men who were waiting for him in the gas station\u2019s parking lot.<\/p>\n

Payment Related to \u2018Audit\u2019<\/h2>\n

The texts claimed a firm was conducting an \u201caudit\u201d and the money would prevent additional fines against the casino. The sender of the texts pretended to be the employee\u2019s boss.<\/p>\n

Upon investigating the incident, Brian Larson, a special agent with South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), was able to view surveillance video<\/a> at the gas station. He was able to identify the credit card used by one of the suspects.<\/p>\n

\n

The man who presented the credit card turned out to live in Omaha, Neb. and owned the car used by the two suspects. Later, Orellana was charged in connection with the theft. It\u2019s unclear if the second suspect at the gas station will be charged. There’s been no indication of whether the casino employee was investigated for any possible charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Grand River Casino and Resort is owned and operated by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.<\/p>\n

Authorities didn\u2019t say what happened to the money or how the nefarious plot wound up being reported to officials.<\/p>\n

Similar incidents<\/a> have taken place at other US casinos recently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man accused of deceiving a South Dakota gaming property worker appeared in court this week. The employee had collected $350K from the casino cage and turned it over to the defendant at a gas station<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":319559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,18456],"tags":[13766,81928,81860,81862],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T17:12:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T19:40:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"527\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/\",\"name\":\"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T17:12:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-09T19:40:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":527},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crime & Scandals\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Two Scammers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers","description":"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers","og_description":"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-05-09T17:12:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-09T19:40:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":527,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/","name":"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Scammers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-09T17:12:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-09T19:40:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"The man accused of deceiving a casino worker appeared in court. The employee collected $350K from the casino cage and gave it to the suspect.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/grand.jpg","width":800,"height":527},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-dakota-casino-employee-hands-over-350k-to-two-scammers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crime & Scandals","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"South Dakota Casino Employee Hands Over $350K to Two Scammers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319553"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319585,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319553\/revisions\/319585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}