Arrest Made in $700,000 Scam Heist at Michigan Four Winds Casino

A man who allegedly duped an employee of Four Winds Casino in Hartford, Michigan, into giving him $700,000 in casino funds has been arrested, according to the US Attorney’s Office. 

The theft took place on July 30, 2023, when someone called the Four Winds Casino claiming to be the tribal chairperson of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the tribe that owns the casino-resort. 

Phone Calls, Texts Fooled Employee into Handing Over Cash

The caller claimed they needed the funds to make an urgent payment. Meanwhile, texts were also sent to a cell phone at the casino cage, supposedly from the cage director, who was out of town at the time. According to the text, it was important for the targeted employee to help make a payment in the next 20 minutes, and to follow the instructions of the caller. The texts also instructed the employee to be discreet about the transaction.

That was apparently enough to convince the casino worker to go along with the scheme. They collected $700,000 in cash from the cage, walked out of the casino, and then transported the money to a gas station in Gary, Indiana. At that point, the employee handed the cash to two unknown individuals.

“The amount of money involved in this theft is extraordinary,” US Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement. “Unfortunately, instances of telephone scams at casinos are on the rise across the country, impacting both tribal and commercial gaming operations.”

The scam led to a joint investigation by the FBI and Pokagon Tribal Police. After months of searching, authorities identified Jesus Gaytan-Garcia, a 43-year-old from Mexico, as one of the men whom the employee handed the cash to at the Gary gas station.

Money Found in Suspect’s Home Led to Arrest

Authorities say that the initial call that began the heist originated from a Cancun area code in Mexico. When Gaytan-Garcia became a suspect, authorities searched his home, and found a stack of cash still wrapped in a paper band with the word “Hartford” on it along with the date of the theft. Authorities also say that Gaytan-Garcia is in the United States illegally.

“The arrest of Mr. Gaytan-Garcia demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration between the Pokagon Tribal Police and the FBI,” Pokagon Tribal Police Chief Mario RedLegs said in a statement. “We greatly appreciate the support and assistance of US Attorney Mark Totten and his staff to prosecute those that violate the law on Pokagon Band land.”

The Four Winds Casino in Hartford is one of four such facilities – all running under the Four Winds banner – owned by the Pokagon Band in Michigan and Indiana. The primary casino is in New Buffalo Township, Michigan, and was opened in 2007. The Hartford casino opened in 2011.

Copycat Crime?

The Four Winds heist was similar to one that occurred a month earlier in Las Vegas. In June 2023, Erik Gutierrez, 23 at the time, allegedly contacted a cage supervisor at the Circa Hotel & Casino by phone and said he was casino owner Derek Stevens in need of $320,000 to make an urgent payment to the fire department. 

At the same time, police said, the cage supervisor was texting with someone she believed was her manager. Together they instructed her to deliver cash off-premises to someone she was told was Stevens’ attorney. 

In total, the employee delivered four installments to different locations totaling $1.17 million. Police arrested Gutierrez the next day, and later recovered $850,000 of the stolen money. His case is still pending trial.

While the Four Winds and Circa heists may have dramatic, they don’t rank with the largest casino thefts of all time. In 1993, a couple robbed Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas for $3.1 million by fleeing with an armored truck filled with cash meant to fill ATMs at various resorts. The robbery would later be featured in the Netflix documentary true crime series “Heist.”

(Image: US Attorney's Office)