An employee of a casino operated by Codere in Montevideo, Uruguay, was leading a double life. While collecting a paycheck from the Casino Carrasco, he was also helping himself to more money, possibly well more than $300K.
A police investigation began late Thursday at the casino after employees called 911 to report that US$11,000 was missing. Montevideo Portal reports that a routine audit had revealed the discrepancy and, at the time, only two people could have had access to the cash.
Police detained both employees, a 33-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, as they began the investigation. They were able to eliminate the female as a suspect, leaving only one candidate behind the theft.
Long-Running Game
Under interrogation, the unidentified employee — who had reportedly worked at the casino for about 11 years — admitted to the theft. He began laying out the details that would later lead to the seizure of UYU5 million (US$129,550) and US$200,000.
The man told police that he had hidden the $11K last Thursday, leaving it in a place where only he had access inside the casino. His plan had been to return later to retrieve the money and leave, just like he had done a number of times before.
He later confessed that he had more money stored in his home and elsewhere. He also told officers that he had given money to his partner, a 30-year-old woman, who police also arrested. Police let her go after determining that she had no knowledge of the money’s origins.
The suspect continued to divulge more details, turning over the addresses of six places where he had kept the money. The police were able to confirm the locations and recover the funds, but also suspect that the thief may have taken more.
While the police investigate on their end, the casino is also looking into the case. It plans to conduct a full audit to determine if more money is missing.
The former employee now faces charges of continuous misappropriation. He remains in jail while the investigation continues.
Losing Out the Front and Back Doors
Casino Carrasco is part of the Hotel Carrasco, which first opened in 1921. As the casino was losing money to employee theft through the back door, the property has also been losing money out the front, as well.
The casino and hotel have undergone several transformations over the past 100 years to try and bring back its former glory days. But the efforts continue to fall short. The latest phase of the casino’s existence began in 2009 when Carrasco Nobile won a tender for the gaming operations.
Things looked good at first, with the casino paying US$2.5 million in operating rights annually as it got off the ground. However, by 2016, it was in debt to the city, owing $1.3 million. It had to rework the terms of its agreement to avoid closing for financial reasons, as it had done at least twice in the past.
By 2020, with the arrival of COVID-19, things were even worse. A prolonged eight-month shutdown that year and in 2021 hurt the casino’s bottom line even more.
After the casino reopened toward the end of 2021, Codere said it was already seeing improvements. According to Montevideo records, the casino is still paying much less to the city than agreed upon, leaving its future in doubt once more.
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