Minnesota Businesses Targeted by Charitable Pull Tab Fraud Ring, Complaint Reveals

Investigators say eight people are tied to more than three dozen burglaries across the Twin Cities, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars being stolen.

As of Friday morning, two individuals are in police custody; however, prosecutors are pursuing arrest warrants for the remaining six suspects. Authorities believe a man from Saint Paul was at the forefront of this group.

Investigators say these crimes were carefully orchestrated as the group allegedly carried out the burglaries by casing buildings and hitting businesses that kept cash on site "because of pull tab charitable gambling operations," according to the criminal complaint.

The burglaries occurred in 14 cities: Apple Valley, Bloomington, Champlin, Elk River, Falcon Heights, Faribault, Forest Lake, Hopkins, Howard Lake, Lakeland, Monticello, Otsego, Rosemount and Stillwater.

Forty different bars, restaurants and golf courses were hit in less than a year, with the thieves walking away with nearly $200,000.

One of those businesses is the American Legion Post 48 in Stillwater. Workers there say it happened in the early morning hours of April 17, 2023. The crime, which took about three minutes, was all caught on surveillance video.

In the end, the thieves took a pull tab safe with more than $3,000 inside. Staff say they feel violated.

"They had to be casing the joint," said assistant manager Cynthia LaCosse. "Got to believe that, or how would they know where everything was."

The biggest financial impact was felt at a Hopkins bar, from which they stole over $21,000 belonging to a local group.

Investigators claim they possess evidence indicating the group’s involvement in a series of crimes spanning multiple years.