Dealer Accused Of Cheating At Gaming Company Evolution In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — A dealer at the online gaming company Evolution in Fairfield was arrested by Connecticut State Police this week, accused of cheating the virtual casino out of $47,000 during games of blackjack, according to authorities.

Norwalk resident Sebastian Echeverri, 23, surrendered to state police Troop G in Bridgeport Wednesday, and was charged with first-degree larceny and cheating. He is free after posting a $50,000 surety bond, and is scheduled to be arraigned in Bridgeport Superior Court on April 20.

The case began in January, when the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force received a criminal referral from the Department of Consumer Protection Gaming Division "regarding an alleged cheating scam involving a dealer at live casino operator, Evolution."

Evolution is a gaming company licensed by the state to host online casino dealer games within the DraftKings and FanDuel platforms, for users physically located within Connecticut, according to state police. Players have the ability to play casino games virtually, but with the experience of a live dealer, through live video feeds.

According to information provided by the consumer protection department, Echeverri is accused of using "his access to card decks to either memorize a series of cards or even manipulate a series of cards to then place favorable bets on the outcome, using three separate DraftKing accounts," state police said in a news release.

Patch reached out to Evolution for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply. Echeverri's employment status with Evolution was not known.

State police said that Echeverri's job involved him working as a shuffler, preparing decks of playing cards while the dealer interacts with the players over the video feed.

"Records examined during the course of the investigation revealed that one or more of the three DraftKings accounts allegedly controlled by Echeverri demonstrated a pattern of placing abnormally high bets after Echeverri had handled the cards," state police said. "In total, Evolution representatives estimated that Echeverri exploited his role as a shuffler during at least 26 different games."

Detectives obtained video surveillance and internal gaming documents to determine that "Echeverri, in his position as a game presenter at Evolution, was manipulating blackjack hands to facilitate advantageous online bets on multiple DraftKings accounts that he was operating and was responsible for defrauding the platform out of at least $47,000."

According to state police, Evolution learned of the scheme during the normal course of business monitoring; one of the three DraftKings accounts allegedly controlled by Echevarri had been flagged for "suspicious gaming activity from approximately July of 2022 through December of 2022."

Records indicated that the flagged DraftKings account had been accessed through the same device Echevarri used to log into Evolution’s employee portals and view information such as his work schedule or time sheets.

"Investigators reviewed video footage from Evolution relative to the games suspected to have been manipulated by Echeverri," state police said. "The videos appeared to depict Echeverri actively examining the sequence of the cards on which he would subsequently place bets."

State police obtained a warrant for Echeverri's arrest soon after meeting with him earlier this month, at which time he "admitted to using his position to tamper with cards and place advantageous wagers on blackjack games."

Additionally, Echeverri admitted that he controlled the three DraftKings accounts allegedly used to place bets on the blackjack hands.

From Connecticut State Police: If you think you or someone you know has a problem with gambling, please visit this website to access problem gambling resources available in Connecticut:

https://portal.ct.gov/gaming/ChildPage---Get-Help-for-Problem-Gambling?language=en_US