BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Authorities say a man tried to cash out $100,000 he stole from the player’s account of a popular YouTuber ― known for his big bets on slot machines ― at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on Sunday.
Recommended Videos
Tribal police arrested the accused thief, Joseph George Rice, 41, of Ridgeland, Mississippi, on multiple felony charges.
An arrest report from the Seminole Police Department states that he stole the six-figure sum from 36-year-old content creator Narek Gharibyan, whose NG Slot YouTube channel boasts more than 700,000 subscribers.
Gharibyan, of Glendale, California, showcases his travels to casinos across the country, where he places high-dollar bets on high-limit slot machines.
According to the SPD report, Gharibyan noticed the six-figure sum was missing from his account and a cashier summoned officers just after 10 p.m. as Rice tried to cash out a $49,800 slot voucher.
The heavily-redacted report doesn’t state how Rice was allegedly able to access the YouTuber’s account. However, it does say that Rice was “previously involved in a case” at the Hard Rock in Tampa on Jan. 3 in which he entered a phone number and a PIN at a machine and withdrew $10,000 from another person’s account.
Police said an officer detaining Rice noted a “scrunched casino slot voucher” in one of his pockets.
They said after he gave officers permission to search his pockets, they found three vouchers, valued at $42,800, $4,500 and $2,900.
According to the report, those same amounts had been withdrawn from Gharibyan’s account.
Jail records show that after appearing in Broward bond court, Rice faces one count of first-degree grand theft and six charges related to identity theft and possessing stolen IDs.
Those records show that Rice, who sported a black and bloodied eye of unclear origin in his Broward Sheriff’s Office mugshot, was being held in BSO’s North Broward Bureau jail facility on a $97,000 bond.