Brown Arrests Former GM of Chukchansi Casino for Using Casino Funds to Purchase Shelby Mustang

Friday, July 24, 2009
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

Fresno – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that agents from his Bureau of Gambling Control, working with the FBI, today arrested Chukchansi Casino’s former General Manager, Jeff Livingston, who “willfully abused his trust” by using a corporate credit card to spend more than $30,000 on down payments for two cars and a Hawaiian golf vacation.

Livingston, 49, of Fresno, was arrested at his residence this morning on two federal counts of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian lands. If convicted, Livingston faces up to 20 years in prison. Livingston is a former Broward County, Florida Deputy Sheriff.

“Jeff Livingston willfully abused his trust as casino general manager to conceal more than $30,000 in lavish purchases, including a Shelby Mustang and a Hawaiian golf vacation,” Brown said.

Brown’s office launched an investigation into Livingston in February 2008 after the Tribal Gaming Agency of the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino discovered questionable charges on the casino’s corporate credit card. Brown’s office asked the FBI to join the investigation because the matter involved an employee of an Indian casino. The Chuckchansi Casino is located 35 miles north of Fresno in Coarsegold, Calif.

The joint investigation revealed that Livingston made unauthorized purchases with the casino’s corporate credit card, including:
• A $20,000 down payment on a new Ford Mustang Shelby;
• A $5,000 down payment on a new Ford Fusion for the casino’s former Vice President of Marketing; and
• A $7,000 Mercedes Benz PGA National Golf Championship package in Maui, Hawaii.

Livingston attempted to conceal the down payments by making it appear as if they were part of a ten car purchase he made for a casino giveaway.

Livingston was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on two counts of theft by an officer or employee of gaming establishments on Indian Lands in violation of U.S. Code Section 1168 (Title 18).

The defendant was arraigned earlier this afternoon in Fresno in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California.

A copy of the federal indictment, issued July 23, 2009, is attached.

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PDF icon Livingston Indictment656.1 KB