Agents travel to Las Vegas to arrest trusted employee
Source: editor@cslea.com
Date: 7/14/2010
What started out as a minor accounting question for California state lottery agents in May 2009 ended this week (July 12) in the arrest and extradition of a store manger charged with embezzling more than $600,000 worth of lottery tickets.
Last year, an accountant with the Primm Resort in Nipton (San Bernardino County) noticed a shortage in the proceeds from the sale of its Lottery Scratcher tickets. Not being entirely familiar with the accounting practices involving Lottery tickets, the management of Primm Resort reached out to the California Lottery's Security/Law Enforcement Division for assistance.
After carefully reviewing a sample of Primm Resort's monthly receipts, Lottery investigators realized something was amiss. Quickly expanding their investigation, they meticulously examined the records from hundreds of thousands of Primm Resort's lottery sales transactions.
Interviews were conducted and hours of security surveillance video reviewed. After methodically examining and analyzing all the evidence, they reached a conclusion: One of Primm Resort's most trusted employees, Lottery store manager Peggy Blomstedt, was responsible for the theft of $621,000 of Lottery Scratcher tickets.
To Primm Resort's amazement, Blomstedt was able to conceal this theft for more than two years. With her management position and trusted reputation, Blomstedt had total control of all of Primm Resort's lottery tickets. But once Lottery investigators became involved, Blomstedt's activities were quickly unmasked.
This week, Lottery investigators, with the assistance of Las Vegas Metro Police, arrested Blomstedt on a $400,000 warrant issued by the San Bernardino Superior Court, charging her with embezzlement. Blomstedt is currently being held in the San Bernardino County Jail awaiting trial.
Everest J. Robillard, deputy director for the California State Lottery's Security & Law Enforcement Division, praised CSLEA- and CACI-member investigators Al Lewis and Sonny Stark "for their diligence and dedication to protect the security, integrity, and honesty of the California Lottery."
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