Weird: Slot machine tech busted for stealing from casino

Ever seen one of the many Ocean’s films? They’re all about pulling off the perfect casino robbery. The meticulous planning, the execution; it’s enthralling to watch play out.

A certain casino repair man in Massachusetts, however, couldn’t do it with quite as much style.

According to the Boston Herald, Salvador Montalvo, Jr. thought he’d figured out the perfect way to swindle some money from his workplace, the MGM Springfield Casino. His job as a repair tech gave him access to slot machines in the casino. And as part of his duties, he’d need to ensure the machines awarded money correctly.

So over the course of five months, Montalvo, Jr. completed some documents with the forged signatures of his supervisors. Then he used those forms to withdraw $23,940 from cashiers at the casino, pocketing most of money in a plan he apparently thought was bulletproof.

We know what you’re probably thinking. It would’ve been way cooler if he’d just rigged the machines and had some deep, calculating plot to have a friend come in and win a bunch of money, right? YES! That would’ve been way more Ocean’s-like. Done correctly, Montalvo and his friend could’ve been halfway to Tahiti before anyone realized what had happened.

Or maybe he could’ve gone all-in on the movie robbery. He could’ve assembled a team of professionals, including a computer hacker and a trapeze artist. He could’ve instructed the hacker to disable security, while also sending the trapeze artist through the ventilation shafts so they could rappel down into the casino’s vault and steal the money. And then he could’ve used his skills as a slot machine repair tech to make all of the machine’s go absolutely berserk at just the right time, providing the perfect distraction so he and his team could make an escape.

We’d pay $20 to go see that in a theater.

Unfortunately, Montalvo, Jr. chose to steal the money in the most straightforward way possible; he took it, he created records of him taking it, and then he never gave it back. His mistake was believing that — because the casino had so much money — it wouldn’t notice that a few thousand dollars had gone missing. But casinos are meticulous when it comes to keeping track of funds. Someone was inevitably going to figure it out. And sure enough, they did.

Now, you don’t need to dream up some elaborate — or in this case, simple — way to rob a casino. You can actually gamble online and potentially win some money without even having to spend a time. There are a bunch of casinos that offer free spins, and website that catalogs them where you can learn more.

As for Montalvo, Jr? He’s been indicted and faces charges for both larceny and falsifying documents. There’s no word on when he’ll face trial or how much time he could potentially face in prison, but we do know this: had he just played some casino games online, he could’ve made some money without ending up in cuffs.

Or he could’ve dreamed up a more Hollywood-friendly scheme and sold his story to a film studio. Seriously, how did he think the casino wasn’t going to notice all that missing cash?