Woman in $5.3M Tribal Casino Fraud Scheme Faces Loss of US Citizenship
Posted on: June 9, 2026, 11:17h.
Last updated on: June 9, 2026, 11:17h.
- DOJ seeks to revoke citizenship over concealed casino fraud role
- Woman laundered Miccosukee Casino scheme proceeds before naturalization
- Gaming machine voucher scam stole millions from tribal casino
A Cuban-born woman convicted in a $5.3 million fraud scheme that targeted the Miccosukee Casino & Resort in Miami is among 17 naturalized US citizens facing denaturalization by the Trump administration.
The US Justice Department announced Monday it is seeking to strip all 17 of their citizenship because they allegedly concealed past offenses from immigration officials.
Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres was convicted in 2020 of money laundering in connection to a scheme to rig gaming machines at the Miccosukee Casino. However, when she applied for citizenship on August 19, 2015, she was actively participating in the laundering scheme, according to the DOJ.
When asked on the form if she had committed a crime she had not been arrested for, she falsely replied “no,” the DOJ said.
Machine Tampering
Acosta Torres was married to Yohander Jorrin Melhen, a video-gaming machine technician at the casino. Along with three colleagues, Jorrin conspired to steal $5.3 million from the property by creating bogus credit vouchers that could be exchanged for cash on the gaming floor.
Prosecutors said the four casino employees would feign maintenance work on gaming machines, allowing them to manipulate the devices into recording thousands of dollars in fictitious “coin-in” activity.
The machines would then generate fraudulent credit vouchers that co-conspirators who did not work at the casino redeemed for cash.
The group covered up their activities by conducting a hard reset, or “RAM clear,” of a terminal, which would delete the history of the false and fraudulent coin-in amounts from the machine. The scam began in January 2011 and continued through May 2015, according to prosecutors.
Money Trail
Prosecutors said Acosta Torres helped launder proceeds from the Miccosukee fraud by depositing stolen cash into bank accounts she controlled, allegedly structuring some deposits to evade reporting requirements and helping conceal the source of at least $147,970 in illicit funds.
After pleading guilty in January 2020 to conspiracy to commit money laundering, Acosta Torres was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The court also ordered her to pay $147,970 in restitution and forfeit her interest in various properties.
Jorrin was sentenced to 51 months in prison for conspiracy computer fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. His co-conspirators received similar sentences.
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