Las Vegas sports betting kiosks targeted in embezzlement scheme: gaming board
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada Gaming Control Board detectives disrupted a scheme involving sports betting company William Hill where employees allegedly altered kiosks to steal money, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.
The scheme mirrors one the 8 News Now Investigators first reported about last year.
In December 2022, a gaming control board enforcement agent began an investigation into alleged embezzlement involving several employees at the company. According to its website, William Hill operates more than 100 race and sports books in Nevada. The company calls itself “the state’s leading mobile sports betting app.” Caesars Entertainment purchased William Hill for nearly $4 billion in 2021.
The board’s investigation found at least three employees “were fired for making fraudulent cash adjustments at various William Hill betting kiosks,” netting a more than $70,000 loss, documents said. The company identified the employees involved in the alleged scheme as Mariah Butler, identified as a supervisor; and Tionne Ryans, documents said. Several other co-conspirations were also involved.
The scheme allegedly involved tactics a separate group also employed at the same time, documents said. A William Hill customer service agent would review customer information from a kiosk and adjust an amount of money.
In the case the 8 News Now Investigators first reported last year, Shravan Singh and Paige Steiner each pleaded guilty to five charges and agreed to jointly pay more than $200,000 in restitution.
“In both cases, the suspects, while working as customer service agents or supervisors, used internal computer programs to fraudulently add money onto kiosks operated by William Hill,” documents said. “Coordinating with co-conspirators, the suspects then used personal cellphones to select specific kiosks to be altered. After the fraudulent adjustments were made, the co-conspirators would then print and redeem altered kiosk vouchers for cash.”
A William Hill manager told gaming investigators that it was rare for customer service agents to make adjustments, with the number likely to be about one or two a month, documents said.
Ryans alone accounted for nearly half of the company’s adjustments over one month, documents said. The account with the second-most adjustment was Singh, a co-conspirator in the other concurrent scheme.
“In this case, the suspects were caught making $100, $500, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000 and $2,500 singular adjustments,” documents said. According to a witness, an employee saw someone involved in the scheme texting with the person on the other end of the kiosk “and coordinating to add money to the kiosk,” documents said.
Four others face theft charges in connection with the case, records said. Police arrested Ryans earlier this month. A warrant remained active Wednesday for Butler’s arrest on a forgery charge.
Ryans faces charges of theft between $25,000 and $100,000 and forgery. She was granted an own recognizance walkthrough where she was booked into jail and then released and was due in court in April.
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