24-year casino worker accused of stealing $700,000 from Harrah's

STATELINE -- In the largest Lake Tahoe casino scam in memory, a former dealer at Harrah's Lake Tahoe is alleged to have pocketed $700,000 in the past three years.

Patricia Diaz, a 46-year-old Gardnerville resident, reportedly used her daughter to cash stolen Harrah's chips on a weekly basis at Horizon Casino Resort and Caesars Tahoe, investigators said.

Ed Yenick, Northern Nevada's deputy chief of enforcement for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said the stolen chips were a "large amount for anywhere in the state."

"I just can't recall a case that big in recent times," Yenick said. "Certainly we've had cheats ... and other types of scams that have occurred at Tahoe casinos, but I don't recall anything this large involving an employee."

On Jan. 9, the control board was notified by Harrah's security that Christy Liddell, Diaz's daughter, was cashing chips at Stateline casinos. Liddell's name was entered into the control board's computer system. Her name registered as having an inactive work permit but her mother, Patricia Liddell, was listed as a Harrah's dealer, court records show.

Further investigation revealed Patricia Liddell was Patricia Diaz, a high-limit dealer for the past 10 years.

Search warrants were issued. Items such as computers, tax and escrow documents, receipts, bank statements and credit reports were seized.

Court records allege Diaz spent $822,491 from 2000 to 2002 on an annual income of $48,357.

Liddell told authorities her mother was her sole financial supporter and owned her house, car and supplied a $600 monthly stipend. In addition to making a $54,537 downpayment on a third house and paying off four vehicles, records show Diaz put a $64,262 downpayment on a 2002 Sea Ray boat costing $189,262. After the purchase, $72,899 was paid on the loan in a nine-month span.

Surveillance tapes allegedly show Diaz putting chips in her left pants pocket. During a search of Diaz's house, 12 pairs of black pants were found with tissue in the left pocket. Authorities claim the tissue was used to stop the $500 chips from hitting each other as she placed them in her pocket.

A spokesman for Harrah's and Harveys couldn't be reached for comment. Yenick,said the gaming-control agency is working with the casinos to prevent future losses.

"We have an ongoing investigation to make sure that their procedures and regulations have been followed," Yenick said. "We're working with them to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Diaz's daughter told Nevada Gaming Control Board authorities that her mother told her the chips were earnings from gambling after work.

Diaz allegedly told her daughter she didn't want her husband to know she was gambling, so she needed Liddell to cash the chips at different casinos.

In a January interview with authorities, Liddell said she was cashing chips for the past 18 to 24 months. Investigators believe the thefts began in May 1999.

Diaz was employed with Harrah's Lake Tahoe for 24 years before she was released Jan. 9 pending an investigation. She was arrested April 30 and charged with felony racketeering and felony grand theft.

She is free on $1,500 bail and is scheduled to appear at Tahoe Township Justice Court for a preliminary hearing July 29.