A blackjack dealer at Penn National Hollywood Casino in Grantville, Pennsylvania has been accused of conspiring with two players in order to steal nearly $17,000 last weekend.

Pennsylvania State Police say that 22-year-old blackjack dealer Yadav Bhandari worked with players Shankar Karki, 37, and Prakash Thapa, 24, to allegedly funnel money away from a table from Saturday night through early Saturday morning.

Charges Include Criminal Conspiracy, Theft by Deception

Hollywood Casino’s surveillance team called the State Police after seeing a suspicious “significant loss” at Bhandari’s table during that time. Investigators allege that a mix of slight of hand, improper payouts, and faulty dealing were all seen on video. 

Ultimately, investigators say that about $16,555 in fraudulent winnings were paid out to Karki and Thapa during the overnight session, which began on July 13 and finished around 1:50 am on July 14. 

Investigators were able to identify Karki and Thapa thanks to their casino player’s cards and drivers licenses, along with the images from the casino’s surveillance system. The three men have been charged with felony counts of theft by deception and criminal conspiracy, as well as misdemeanor counts of knowingly by trick/fraud/manipulation win or reduce a loss, and unlawfully taking/claiming/manipulating with intent to defraud/cheat.

All three suspects are free after posting $5,000 each in bail, according to court records. A preliminary hearing on the case will take place on July 30.

Procedural Errors, Cheating Costing Pennsylvania Casinos

The incident marks at least the second time this year that a Pennsylvania casino has dealt with a cheating scheme that involved employees conspiring with patrons to steal money by manipulating games.

In March and April, at least two employees and three players in total were charged with cheating on an Interblock Roulette game at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. A dealer spun the ball the wrong way on the electronic game, which should have led to the spins never being registered. However, a supervisor came over and validated the spin, allowing wins to be paid out – after players had posted late bets when the result was already known.

In that case, charges for players including felony counts of theft by deception and receiving stolen property. Rivers Casino said it would work with Interblock to update the game’s software to prevent similar schemes in the future. 

Other casinos in the state have faced scrutiny for their practices as of late. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board recently fined Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia $100,000 after employees in its FanDuel Sportsbook took nearly $300,000 worth of bets over the phone, violating state laws on proxy bets. Both FanDuel and the casino say they are giving employees focused training and improving procedures to prevent future proxy bets from occurring.