FORTUNE BAY- All of the $110,000 taken from Fortune Bay Resort Casino in an attempted November scam has been recovered, according to an announcement last week by the Bois Forte Tribal Council.
On Nov. 11, a Fortune Bay employee removed $110,000 from a vault and took it off the property. Resort staff immediately contacted federal and tribal law enforcement, and $108,000 was recovered at the time.
Last week the council announced that the remaining $2,000 had been paid back to Fortune Bay.
The employee involved in the incident was terminated, and the case remains under investigation by the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office.
While the band did not report details of the incident, numerous Native casinos around the country have reported scam operations targeting casino cage employees. The National Indian Gaming Commission issued a warning to tribal gaming operators in July 2023 about “impostor scams” where scammers claimed to be vendors, state or tribal officials. They would try to convince an employee that there was some emergency that required an immediate cash payment and get them to take the cash off-site for transfer.
Immediately after the incident, the Bois Forte Tribal Council imposed strict vault controls, including requirements for recordkeeping, limitations on vault access, and restrictions on the use of vault funds. The council also approved updated policies and procedures for vault staff and requested the National Indian Gaming Commission to review its vault procedures.