In Bucks County Court, the four defendants are each facing counts of forgery, theft by deceit, possession of tools of crime, and conspiracy. In the spring of 2019, they reportedly passed a total of 150 phony bills at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (now Wind Creek Bethlehem), Parx, SugarHouse (now Rivers Casino Philadelphia), Valley Forge Resort, and Harrah’s casinos.
A gang from Philadelphia is suspected of spending thousands of dollars in counterfeit money at five Pennsylvania casinos last year, according to authorities.
Kiara Kristin Purnell, Mahagany White, Nieem Johnson and Marcus Davis allegedly passed a total of 150 fake bills in the spring of 2019 at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (now Wind Creek Bethlehem), Parx, SugarHouse (now Rivers Casino Philadelphia), Valley Forge Resort and Harrah’s casinos, as reported by lehighvalleylive.com.
Three people have been taken into custody, while police are still on the lookout for Purnell.
In Bucks County Court, the four defendants are each facing counts of forgery, theft by deceit, possession of tools of crime, and conspiracy. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Gaming Enforcement brought the charges against the defendants.
Investigators said surveillance video showed the four men using the counterfeit money at various gaming tables, but they also discovered a printing setup in a Philadelphia hotel room, where evidence showed that $1 bills were bleached and then printed to appear to be $100 bills, according to the authorities. The banknotes all had the same serial number, according to the authorities.
Authorities claimed they first became aware of the phony money in early April 2019, when a man and a woman used bonus $100
notes with the same serial number throughout the course of a weekend at the Parx, SugarHouse, and Harrah’s casinos, according to authorities. Purnell and White were seen on surveillance camera spending the fictitious money at the SugarHouse Casino’s blackjack tables, and they arrived and departed the casino together in a Pontiac Aztec with a “dead” license plate number, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
According to state police, surveillance video also showed Johnson using the fictitious banknotes around the same time at Parx, Harrah’s, and Valley Forge, as well as driving the same vehicle as Purnell and White. Later in April, Johnson and Davis are accused of using the fictitious invoices at the Sands, which was acquired by Wind Creek Hospitality in May of this year.
According to the investigation, Johnson, White, and Purnell went to the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City on April 20, 2019. According to court documents, Johnson attempted to use the counterfeit $100 notes to cash in at a blackjack table. According to police, a dealer grew suspicious and phoned for a supervisor, who then called for security. According to the papers, Johnson surrendered his ID to security but attempted to take it with him before leaving the casino. According to the New Jersey State Police, they examined surveillance video and discovered that White and Purnell had only played “minimally” at the Hard Rock gaming tables before cashing out.