John Colletti even went on to dress up as an elder to evade suspicion, federal prosecutors say.
Colletti, 55, allegedly attacked his victims by illegally obtaining their personal information and then used forged driver’s licenses to withdraw funds from their personal bank accounts through self-service kiosks in casinos, according to a federal criminal complaint revealed in a federal court in Michigan on Thursday. .
Kiosks require users to insert their driver’s license and the last four digits of their Social Security number and phone number before funds can be withdrawn from the checking account. Each victim had previously signed up to link their bank accounts to their profile in Global Payments’ “Preferred VIP Program”, the complaint said.
“Initially we identified this fraudulent activity and immediately alerted our clients and law enforcement. Throughout the investigation, we provided support and cooperation that ultimately led to the capture of this suspect,” said Global Payments spokeswoman Emily Edmonds in a statement to CNN.
Colletti faces charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and fraud and related activities related to access devices, according to the complaint. Currently in the custody of the US Marshals in Kansas, she has a detention hearing scheduled for July 30, according to court documents filed in Kansas.
A spokesman for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan declined to comment further, although he noted that they had requested that he be transferred to Colletti to face the charges in Michigan.
The attorney representing Colletti in pre-trial proceedings in Topeka, Kansas, declined to comment.
The investigation began when casino security at the MGM Grand Casino identified at least 10 identity theft victims who lost a total of approximately $ 98,840 between April 26 and May 27, 2019, according to the complaint.
The incidents were reported to the Michigan State Police, which opened an investigation and identified a suspect based on surveillance video, the complaint says.
In each case, surveillance footage shows a person wearing a full prosthetic face mask to look like an elderly white man, according to the complaint.
MGM Grand Detroit could not immediately be reached for comment.
A change of wardrobe and an unsuccessful escape
Nearly a year later, Prairie Band’s Potawatomi tribal police arrested Colletti on March 12 for identity theft at the Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kansas, according to the complaint.
Casino employees had observed through surveillance video that an individual dressed as an elderly man “with a straw hat, glasses and a mobility walker” was withdrawing approximately $ 20,000 from the kiosks, according to the complaint.
Casino security approached the man, later identified as Colletti, and asked for his social security number because he had withdrawn such a large amount of cash, according to the complaint. “Colletti immediately went to the bathroom, where he removed his costume. Colletti left the casino with a noticeable lump on the front of his pants, believed to be the prosthetic face mask,” the complaint said.
In the bathroom, police found clothing, a mobility walker, a Nissan car key, two Michigan driver’s licenses and approximately $ 11,000 in cash, according to the complaint.
On the back of the driver’s licenses were sticky notes with the victims’ social security number and phone number, which were necessary to complete the kiosk transactions, according to the complaint.
Tribal police arrested Colletti and contacted the FBI, according to the complaint.
Subsequently, tribal police searched Colleti’s rental car and found four prosthetic masks, USB sticks, “books on how to get away with committing crimes,” identification cards and various kiosk receipts, according to the complaint. Police found the prosthetic mask the next day near the casino, according to the complaint.
Investigators eventually recovered 83 driver’s licenses, 14 insurance cards with various names, 19 player cards from various casinos, two Binghamton University staff ID cards and a Social Security card under an alias, authorities said.
When investigators examined the flash drives, they discovered “various individuals’ background checks, tutorials, and manuals on how to fake money and commit other financial crimes, GPK videos within the MGM Grand Casino Detroit, handwritten signatures, and Excel spreadsheets with more than one thousand names, “said the complaint.
The spreadsheets included each person’s date of birth, Social Security numbers, bank routing and account numbers, and monthly salary, according to the complaint.
According to the FBI, Global Payment investigators noted the similarities between the Michigan identity theft investigation and the transactions at the tribal casino.
Tribal police contacted investigators in Michigan, who confirmed that Colletti’s photo matched the unidentified subject in the MGM Grand Casino identity theft investigation, according to the complaint.
.
