Operations manager at Las Vegas Strip resort accused of stealing $773K in money laundering scheme

A hotel operations manager at a Las Vegas Strip resort is facing multiple charges of theft and money laundering after police say he stole over $773,000 from the hotel between July 2022 and July 2023.

Brandon Rashaad Johnson, 38, of Las Vegas, Nevada was arrested on September 1 and faces theft, a computer crime and money laundering charges.

The former hotel operations manager at Aria Resort & Casino first raised eyebrows after an observant coworker said that he noticed a significant lifestyle change. The co-worker told police that he looked into Johnson’s work transactions and discovered a number of unusual transactions and immediately notified his manager. 

According to Clark County Detention Center records and a police report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Johnson allegedly issued 209 fraudulent refunds back to a single Chase debit card, with the money going into a checking account. 

Police say that he was allegedly moving money back and forth between several different Chase accounts.

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“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,” a police investigator wrote in Johnson’s arrest report, reviewed by the Review Journal.

The 38-year-old allegedly used the stolen money on expensive dinners, private jet flights and to go on shopping sprees at luxury stores such as Louis Vuitton and Versace.

Johnson is due for a court hearing on Monday, September 11 to post a $100,000 bail and be released with GPS monitoring ahead of his preliminary hearing of evidence or an indictment.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.