LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada Gaming Control Board detectives disrupted an embezzlement scheme where an employee at sports betting company William Hill allegedly altered kiosks at locations across Las Vegas to steal money, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Thursday said.
Shravan Singh and Paige Steiner each face charges in connection with the alleged scheme, documents said. Other alleged co-conspirators are named in documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained, but 8 News Now is not naming them as they have not yet been arrested.
Steiner, who faces 290 charges, appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court on Thursday. Detectives allege Steiner worked with Singh to redeem “fraudulent vouchers for cash.” Judge Rebecca Saxe released her on her own recognizance and did not set bail, records showed.
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.
Detectives believe Singh “completed fraudulent cash adjustments on 166 separate dates,” totaling nearly 3,000 separate instances, they said. The company terminated him on Jan. 19.
An internal investigation found several previous employees “had fraudulently altered kiosks at various locations” throughout Nevada, defrauding the company more than $70,000, records the 8 News Now Investigators obtained revealed.
A second internal investigation identified Singh had reportedly embezzled more than $280,000, documents said, starting in October 2021.
“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.”
William Hill’s ATM kiosks take photos and store transaction information, police said. That information “was ultimately used to find and identify the employees and co-conspirators involved in this case,” detectives said.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board began its investigation in December. Detectives allege Singh “oversaw the day-to-date reporting of any cash adjustments on kiosks over $500, which would be classified as ‘unaccounted for money,’” they wrote in court documents.
“[D]ue to Singh’s position, and his involvement, the embezzlement was not initially caught by William Hill,” detectives wrote in court documents. “Singh’s participation prevented the reporting to compliance of not only his fraudulent cash adjustments but [others] as well.”
An internal audit later revealed several employees made hundreds of adjustments while others made just a handful.
Detectives and William Hill investigators later began tracking Singh’s computer activity, capturing him allegedly aiding Steiner in making transactions at William Hill kiosks all around the Las Vegas valley.
“Based on the annual reports from Singh and each co-conspirator, there was no justification as to why they were observed at so many kiosks withdrawing vouchers and cashing out large sums of money,” detectives said. “None of the suspects had any wagering history, which would suggest they had won thousands of dollars. Therefore, I concluded the only purpose each suspect was observed at the various kiosks was to assist Singh in embezzling money from William Hill.”
It was unclear Thursday if a judge set bail in Singh’s case. He faces charges of embezzlement, forgery, forgery by altering computer data, and conspiracy to commit embezzlement, documents said.
A request for comment to William Hill went unreturned Thursday.
