A former hotel operations manager at the Aria Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip allegedly stole $776,000 from his employer.

Big money

A former employee at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas allegedly stole over $770,000 during his time working at the property. Police arrested Brandon Johnson last week and charged him with 13 theft-related counts. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said that MGM Resorts investigators got in contact with the department’s financial crimes unit back in July to report fraudulent refunds.

same credit card number was used in Aria’s reservation system to process refunds

MGM discovered that the same credit card number was used in Aria’s reservation system to process refunds of guests’ previous stays. An initial internal audit calculated the total loss to be $773,206 and eventually identified Johnson as the culprit. Following further investigation, the total sum rose to over $776,000.

Drew attention to himself

Johnson first started working for MGM Resorts in 2007. While he departed his role for a time, he re-joined the company in 2013 as a hotel operations manager. One of the other managers at the Aria found it suspicious that Johnson was all of a sudden spending significant sums on luxury vacations, a new house, and pricey dinners.

Johnson claimed that he was working as a private chef on the side for wealthy clients. The manager became curious as he never heard Johnson talk about cooking and dug deeper, discovering that Johnson had processed numerous refunds to himself. The co-worker reported the matter to a superior who told him to gather evidence.

Facing the consequences of his actions

Investigators linked Johnson to 209 refunds over the course of a 12-month period. The authorities secured a subpoena to view the 38-year-old’s bank records and were able to see significant transactions at luxury retailers like Versace and Louis Vuitton. Some of the transfers to his other accounts were as much as $160,000.

currently in Clark County Detention Center on bail of $100,000

Johnson quit his role in the middle of the investigation and ultimately turned himself into police headquarters on September 1. He is currently in Clark County Detention Center on bail of $100,000. He has a preliminary hearing on September 19 and will be subject to electronic monitoring if he meets bail.