Fake accounts, fake companies
A former employee of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pennsylvania has been charged with nine felonies for allegedly embezzling more than $700,000 from the casino.
The investigation into 51-year-old Jennifer Petrillo began a year ago when casino management contacted the police about “discrepancies” in the casino’s bookkeeping involving sizeable sums of money. The problems were discovered by another employee who was covering for Petrillo while she was out on medical leave.
Petrillo’s role included cutting checks for the casino, a responsibility she abused in committing her alleged crimes. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Petrillo created fake accounts, identities, and businesses, and wrote $727,446.65 in checks to them from the casino’s account.
And she got to work quickly. The first questionable transactions occurred in June 2024, not long after Petrillo started working at Hollywood Casino. She seemed to live it up with he ill-gotten gains – one account spent money on a Tesla Model 3 car, investments on the Robinhood trading platform, LEGO, spa treatments, and even plastic surgery.
Petrillo is charged with computer trespassing, forgery, theft, unlawful use of a computer, misapplication of entrusted property, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, and knowledge that property is proceeds of an illegal act. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 24.
Casinos are juicy targets
Jennifer Petrillo is far from the first casino employee to scam her employer and she won’t be the last. With money flying left and right, casinos are tempting targets for cheaters and unscrupulous employees alike.
In one example from last year, two employees of Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland were arrested for a VIP scheme that allowed them to steal about $27,000 from the casino.
Sonejah Richards and Allen Hill were VIP hosts, so they had the discretion to offer customers comps and other perks. The two allegedly put comps onto false casino rewards accounts that they created and then gave the associated loyalty cards to two accomplices. Every time Richards and Hill made up more rewards, the same two people got the rewards cards.
Richards loaded 30 rewards cards in February 2025, while Hill handled 20 cards in March. Rewards included free slots play, which was then used to win real money totaling $27,300 between Richards’ and Hills’ cards.
In 2024, two former cage cashiers at Wendover Nugget Hotel and Casino in West Wendover, Nevada were charged with felony embezzlement for allegedly stealing over $3,000.
In the scheme, one of Erika Collazo Rodriguez and Maria A. Gonzales, along with Maria E. Hernandez Perez, who was charged with a lesser crime of gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to embezzle and/or theft, would bring chips or a slots voucher to the cage for redemption. The other would cash it out for a lesser amount and pocket the difference.
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