Alleged Circa Imposter Charged with Con at Eurka Mesquite

On June 18, a man from Las Vegas was apprehended after allegedly defrauding Circa of $1.17 million by pretending to be one of the casino’s proprietors. Evidence suggests he may have used the same modus operandi with other casinos across Nevada.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has seen court documents that suggest 23-year-old Erik Gutierrez Martinez, who appears in the police mugshot to the right, is suspected of purporting to steal $250K from the Eureka Casino Resort in Mesquite prior to the Circa Sting heist – as well as another similar con taking place at the Golden Nugget in Laughlin.

Circa Sting

Last month, Casino.org reported that Gutierrez Martinez had been charged for stealing more than $100K from Circa. The incident occurred on June 17 when the cage supervisor received a phone call from someone claiming to be a co-owner of the casino, Derek or Greg Stevens. He said money was needed to purchase fire safety devices, and the supervisor fell for it, making payments in cash to two men at four different locations. A day later, Gutierrez Martinez was arrested after his mother’s car used in the incident was traced to her house.

Eureka Moment

Gutierrez Martinez has also been charged with theft of more than $100,000 in relation to the incident that happened at the Eureka Casino. It has been reported that the cage supervisor got a call from someone named Michael Gunther, purporting to be a representative from the company that supplied the casino’s hand sanitizer; Gunther instructed the supervisor to deliver $250,000 to an address in Las Vegas where the supervisor was surprised to discover it was a Circle K convenience store. Gunther then asked the supervisor to deposit $15K into a Bitcoin Depot kiosk and head to a 7-Eleven on North Nellis Boulevard to meet someone named “Anthony”, to hand over the remaining $235K. Just as she had handed over the cash box to “Anthony”, the casino called for the supervisor to come back with the money. Luckily, she was able to grab back the cash box and return to the casino. There has been no confirmed link to the Golden Nugget Casino so far.

Golden Nugget Link?

Gutierrez Martinez is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center after an incident at the Golden Nugget. It is unclear whether he has been charged in relation to this incident, as well as any associated arrests. He appeared in Clark County Justice Court in Mesquite for an arraignment and a preliminary hearing has been assigned for August 16.