Michigan Coin Dealer Poured $5M into Slots, Charged with Ripping Off Customers

A coin, jewelry, and precious metals dealer from Bay City, Mich. is accused of bilking his customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and gambling on their dime.

Matthew Joseph Burton, 52, was charged Monday with several counts of felony false pretenses related to his failure to honor purchase agreements with customers at his two businesses, Flying Eagle Coins in Bay City, and Jack of All Trades in Mt. Pleasant.

On numerous occasions, Burton accepted money from customers in exchange for precious metals but failed to provide the goods. At the same time, he gambled upwards of $5 million at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, according to court records.

Shortchange

Michigan state police began looking into Burton in January 2023 after he allegedly took $127K from a customer in exchange for precious metals. He then left the state for over a year without fulfilling his end of the bargain, prosecutors claim.

Months passed, and despite his numerous efforts to contact Burton, the victim didn’t receive his silver, prosecutors claimed.

There is always an excuse,” the man told police, according to court filings. “He was saying they were closed because he had COVID or something … On Facebook, Matt is posting pictures in a suite at the Lions game, so he’s living large on my dime.”

When investigators learned that Burton was a regular visitor to the Soaring Eagle, they obtained the history of his Player’s Club reward card, which made for interesting reading.

Prolific Gambler

That history showed that Burton plowed $5,188,046.04 into slot machines, cashing out $4,235,304.96 for a loss of almost $1 million. On the day he received the $20K from the 72-year-old victim, he poured $33K into the machines.

He visited the casino every day but two in October 2023, with daily slot contributions ranging from $5K to $100K, according to police reports.

A look into Matthew Burton’s Soaring Eagle Casino Player’s Card suggests that Matthew is using the money from the pawn shop gold sales to gamble with,” authorities concluded.

Several other customers claim they are owed sums ranging from $1.4K to $60K by Burton, who gave them checks that bounced, according to court records.

Burton is scheduled to appear for preliminary hearings in Isabella and Bay counties’ district courts on November 8 and November 22, respectively. The most serious charge of false pretenses of $100K or more comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.