Gaming Control Board agents stop sportsbook embezzlement scheme
The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Friday said its agents broke up an embezzlement scheme that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars to a Nevada sports wagering company.
Agents began investigating the matter in December after the licensee self-reported potential fraud using internal information technology systems at sports-betting kiosks.
Control Board officials did not name suspects or the victimized company in a news release issued late Friday and would not disclose additional information.
But the Las Vegas Review-Journal determined from Las Vegas Justice Court documents that an embezzlement and fraud case was heard by Judge Rebecca Saxe on Thursday involving an alleged scheme against William Hill, the state’s largest sports wagering company.
William Hill, a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Inc., operates 113 race and sportsbooks in Nevada. Officials at William Hill could not be reached for comment Friday.
Court records show that Paige Steiner faces 290 felony and gross misdemeanor counts, including charges of burglary, grand larceny, intent to utter fictitious bills or checks and conspiracy to commit criminal contempt. Shravan Singh faces felony charges of embezzlement valued at $100,000 or greater, forgery, forgery by altering computer data and a gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit embezzlement.
Prosecutors had not formally charged either defendant as of Friday.
The board and prosecutors did not provide an arrest report detailing the course of the investigation.
According to the Control Board, the alleged operators of the scheme used internal information technology systems at their disposal, as employees of the licensee, to illegally add money to sports wagering kiosks, and then print and redeem fraudulent wagering vouchers. The licensee was able to use internal security to uncover the alleged criminal activity and report it to the board.
Agents of the board’s Enforcement Division uncovered thousands of fraudulent adjustments from the scheme.
“The board appreciates licensees meeting their obligation to investigate and self-report potential statutory and regulatory violations, as well as alleged criminal activity,” Kristi Torgerson, chief of the board’s Enforcement Division, said in the news release.
“The Enforcement Division will continue to be aggressive in its investigations and covert operations to ensure that the gaming industry is free from criminal elements in its unending effort to safeguard the integrity of regulated gaming in Nevada.”
The Enforcement Division is the law enforcement arm of the board, employing around 90 sworn peace officers, certified by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, and then specifically field-trained for the gaming industry.
“I continue to be proud of the work that the Enforcement Division — and the Board as a whole — does to keep Nevada’s residents and visitors safe from criminal activity, and to guarantee that the gaming industry is operating for the benefit of all Nevadans,” new Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick, who took on the role of chairman in late January, said in a statement.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Katelyn Newberg contributed to this story.
