Poker Pro Dennis Blieden accused of $22 Million embezzlement
Last year’s WPT Los Angeles Poker Classic 1 Million Dollar Winner Dennis Blieden has been charged with 14 federal offences involving a $22million embezzlement from his former employers, charges carrying a maximum sentence of 200 years in jail.
Former Hollywood digital marketing executive and professional poker player charged with embezzling $22 million from his employer https://t.co/kYCA8IqpYt
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) July 11, 2019
Stolen money used for tournament buy-ins and cryptocurrency investing
The 29-year old Nevada resident was arrested in Las Vegas this week after a federal grand jury indictment accused him of using the stolen money for:
“Buy-ins at professional poker tournaments, cryptocurrency investing, and other personal expenses.”
Blieden was the controller and vice president of accounting and finance for StyleHaul between October 2015 and March 2019. StyleHaul is a digital marketing company that represents social media influencers, recently moving its operations from Hollywood to London.
Dennis Blieden is believed to have abused his position at the company to transfer millions of dollars to personal accounts – 11 counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and two forfeiture counts on the indictment.
What did Dennis Blieden spend the money on?
Court papers have detailed Blieden’s alleged embezzlement and where the money went including:
- $1,204,000 in personal checks to poker players,
- $1,134,956 to pay off his credit cards
- $8,473,734 transferred to his cryptocurrency accounts
In addition, the court documents state that shortly before his dismissal this year, Blieden paid $52,000 and $103,000 in poker tournament buy-ins.
In addition to the huge US Poker buy-ins listed on the indictment, PokerNews have reported on his $300k Aria Super High RollerBowl buy-in.
Dennis Blieden had only three relatively small cashes listed on the Hendon Mob before entering last February’s WPT L.A. Poker Classic in Los Angeles. He went on to defeat a field of 492 players to lift the $1million first prize.
Just two weeks ago he added a small WSOP cash, and then took 17th spot in the partypoker Vegas MILLIONS for $35,000.
Meanwhile, the FBI were deep into an investigation of Blieden’s activities at StyleHaul. The indictment alleges he created a “fictitious lease” for a rental condo in Mexico, using a forged signature.
“If convicted of all charges, Blieden would face more than 200 years in prison”
Some $230,000 of StyleHaul’s funds were allegedly channelled through the company, Blieden ‘falsely representing that the condominium was being rented for business purposes’ according to the DOJ’s US Attorney Office for the District of California.
He is also accused of creating “fictitious wire transfer letters, purportedly from Western Union” to transfer funds from StyleHaul.
Following his arrest on Wednesday, Blieden appeared at U.S. District Court in Las Vegas and is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles at a later date.
The indictment states: “If convicted of all charges, Blieden would face a statutory maximum sentence of more than 200 years in federal prison.”
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