A relatively recent apparition on the Las Vegas Strip is the 50-story Aria Resort and Casino — opened in 2006, the luxury hotel was built over the preceding three years as two curved towers stretching into the sky and offering those inside them sweeping views of the city.
The MGM Resorts (MGM) -)-owned space is also designed as an entertainment complex with 150,000 square feet of casino space along with a wealth of restaurants, spas, lobby space and various attraction space for both guests and those moving through the Strip to wander through. It has over 4,000 rooms and brings the entertainment company approximately $800,000 per quarter before taxes and expenses.
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But more recently, the high-end hotel became the subject of media attention for a much less reassuring reason — former manager Brandon Johnson was arrested by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police on suspicion of stealing over $776,000 from the resort from funds designated to go to guests entitled to refunds. Johnson reportedly processed over 300 such refunds in the course of a single year by starting at two transfers in July 2022 and ramping up to 37 in July 2023.
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Co-worker tipped off hotel after observing lavish spending habits
As first reported by the local branch of NBC News, MGM Resorts first contacted the police department's financial crimes unit after discovering that a single Chase (JPM) -) debit card was being entered into every refund processed by Johnson.
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After hiring a company to conduct an audit, the resort discovered that Johnson might have potentially processed over $770,000 worth of refunds into a personal bank account. An early report put the total number at $773,206 but the audit company later raised their loss estimate to over $776,000.
Once the audit was passed over to LVMP, an investigation of Johnson's bank records revealed lavish spending at luxury stores such as Louis Vuitton (LVMHF) -) and Versace. Aria management was first tipped off to the situation by a co-worker who observed the sudden appearance of Scott's luxury items and did not buy his story that he was picking up extra shifts as a private chef to rich clients.
That was what set off the audit and, eventually, the investigation by LVMP. According to the police report viewed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Johnson also reportedly moved money between different bank accounts after transferring it from the hotel.
Manager's behavior is 'common for criminals,' police report claims
"It is common for criminals to move money between accounts to make the fraudulent funds harder to track and also make the stolen money appear legitimate," reads the report.
Scott quit his job at Aria while they were conducting the audit and, on Sept. 1, surrendered to the police to be hit with 13 charges including two for theft valued at over $100,000.
He is currently waiting for a hearing at the Clark County Detention Center with bail set at $100,000 — if he is released on bail, Scott will need to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. If found guilty, he could be looking at significant jail time and fines.
MGM Resorts did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment on the situation.
