Colorado Division of Gaming (CDG) authorities are investigating the theft of $500,000 in cash at the Monarch Casino Resort and Spa in Black Hawk. The crime occurred March 12 and casino cashier Sabrina Eddy, 44, was arrested on suspicion of theft and remains in Gilpin County jail.
The theft is the largest from a casino since gambling began in Colorado in 1991, according to state regulators. A CDG spokesperson said the second-largest theft occurred in 2003, when a security guard was suspected of stealing $300,000 from JP McGills casino in Cripple Creek. The third-largest took place in 2019—$28,000 was taken from Black Hawk’s Famous Bonanza Casino.
Monarch officials declined to say how money was removed from inside the casino. Casino spokeswoman Erica Ferris said, “While we can confirm that the theft occurred, this is currently an active and open investigation and Monarch is making no comment.”
According to a Gilpin County District Court affidavit, Eddy was working shortly after midnight as the cage cashier when she received phone and text messages from men claiming to be casino bosses who instructed her to take the money to pay a lawyer or the casino “would be in breach of contract,” according to the affidavit. She said she met a man she believed to be an attorney in a dark hospital parking lot later that morning and handed over the money.
Surveillance cameras showed Eddy putting $50,000 bricks of money into a box and loading them into a gold-colored minivan, the affidavit said. She left the casino but returned, took more money from the vault for a total of 10 bricks and drove to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver as she claimed to have been instructed. She handed the money to a man near the emergency room.
Later, Eddy called the casino and said she’d taken the money, adding she thought she might be arrested, according to the affidavit, which noted, “Eddy continued to state that she had done nothing wrong, but she was just following orders that she believed had been put out by the casino.”
CDG officials confirmed they are conducting “active administrative and criminal investigations” into what happened. Colorado Department of Revenue spokesperson Suzanne Kerr said, “The Division of Gaming is working with our local law enforcement and criminal justice partners to investigate this incident thoroughly and will not comment further on this case until the investigative, administrative, and criminal processes have concluded.”
In 2003, a casino security guard in Cripple Creek was suspected in a $300,000 theft from JP McGills, state regulators said. In 2010, a robber who brandished a gun and stole $28,000 from Central City’s Famous Bonanza later was shot and eventually was sentenced to 224 years in prison. In 1993, armed robbers took $8,000 from the Gold Rush Casino and Hotel in Cripple Creek before they were arrested.
Casinos are legal in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. The Monarch Casino offers 740 slot machines, 14 game tables, and a 250-seat buffet. In February 2022, owner Monarch Casino and Resort Inc. of Reno reported fourth-quarter revenue of $120.5 million.
