World Poker Tour 2018 LAPC champion Dennis Blieden has been taken into federal custody after being charged with embezzling $22 million from his former employer, StyleHaul Inc.

On Thursday, after an FBI investigation, a federal indictment was unsealed charging Blieden with 11 counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and two forfeiture counts. The indictment claims Blieden used the tens of millions of dollars for poker tournament buy-ins, crypto-currency investments as well as to pay off personal debts.

According to the indictment, while living in Santa Monica, CA, Blieden, was the controller and vice-president of accounting and finance for StyleHaul, a digital marketing company that represents social media ‘influencers’. In his role at the company, Blieden had control over the company’s bank accounts and abused his position and access to those accounts to transfer money to his own personal bank accounts.

Blieden allegedly used company funds to enter into high roller tournaments as well as converting funds to crypto-currency which he was using to gamble online.

The government documents continued to state that Blieden also used the money to write $1,204,000 in personal checks to other poker players, he used $1,134,956 to pay off his personal credit cards and he took another $8,473,734 and transferred them into his own crypto-currency accounts.

Additional details from the government’s allegations assert that Blieden created a fictitious lease in May 2018 for the rental of a condo in Rosarito Beach, Mexico and he forged the signature of a StyleHaul executive to do so. After that, he transferred $230,000 of company funds to himself, claiming that the condo was being rented by clients of the company for business purposes. Additionally, Blieden allegedly falsified wire transfer documents from Western Union to make it appear that money he’d removed from StyleHaul accounts were being used to pay money owed to their own clients.

Blieden is likely best known for this 2018 domination of the final table of the WPT Los Angeles Poker Classic where he ended up taking down the first WPT tournament he ever played in for an even $1,000,000. Since that time Blieden has also been seen playing high stakes cash on Live At The Bike as a participant in their ‘Million Dollar Cash Game.’

Blieden’s most recent live tournament score took place in late June in Las Vegas, where he now resides, when he finished in 17th place in the inaugural partypoker MILLIONS Vegas at the ARIA for $35,000.

If Blieden is found guilty and convicted on all charges he faces a maximum sentence of more than 200 years in federal prison.