Described as a “serial scammer”, an Iowa man convicted of tricking casino staff into giving him more than $10,000 in unwarranted payouts has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
On Nov. 6, 2025, a Lyon County jury found Shaun Joseph Benward (pictured below), 38, guilty of multiple felony charges. The verdict followed a 2018 investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Special Enforcement Operations Bureau.
Benward described himself – perhaps quite accurately – as an “illusionist”. He apparently honed his techniques by “misleading the workers” of the Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, iowa, “including multiple outfit changes and using different tellers to remain undetected”.
After evading authorities for seven years, Benward was located and arrested in Mississippi in April 2025, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety…