Man Sentenced over $25M Embezzlement from Muscogee Creek Nation Casino

A Broken Arrow Man from Oklahoma has received a sentence in the case involving the embezzlement of nearly $25 million from the Muscogee Creek Nation Casino.

Michael Anthony Houser, 36, has been found guilty of submitting fraudulent tax reports and theft of federal funds, and will now spend nearly six years behind bars.

Houser on the Hook for Embezzling and Underreporting to the IRS

Houser, an accounts payable manager at the property, will spend 70 months in prison and also owes restitution to the Muscogee Creek Nation, as well as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Houser has been ordered to pay back $17,377,949.50 to the Muscogee Creek Nation and an additional $8,205,834.00 to the IRS for his crimes. His sentencing comes seven months after he pleaded guilty to both charges in February.

The culprit was able to conduct his scheme between July 2016 and February 2024 while he held his role as a manager at the Muscogee National Gaming Operations Authority Board. His deeds saw him embezzle a total of $24,907,436.07 from the Muscogee Creek Nation’s agencies and programs that were receiving federal funds.

Fraudulent Proceeds Should Still Have Been Reported to the Tax Man

He also landed in hot water with the IRS after he failed to report the stolen money on his federal income tax form, underreporting his income between 2016 and 2022, which is also considered a crime, paradoxically.

In 2022 alone, Houser did not report his real income, based on the misappropriated proceeds of $7,851,027.28, which, along with his other underreported tax filings, led to damages for the IRS to the tune of $8,205,834.00.

The US Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation led the probe into Houser and collected the evidence that served as the basis of his sentencing.