A former Milwaukee Tool employee in Wisconsin stands accused of stealing more than $1 million in tools from his employer. He faces more than a dozen charges and was in court on Monday to plead not guilty.
During the investigation, law enforcement officials found that Yang visited Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee on 140 days between January 1, 2024, and June 7, 2025. According to the criminal complaint, he rang up $67,016.40 in losses.
Milwaukee Tool fired Yang on April 1 of this year after he reportedly cost the company some $1.3 million. The 31-year-old was arrested at his home on June 25.
According to a report from The Waukesha County Freeman, detectives found a Potawatomi Casino rewards card in the alleged thief’s wallet. Yang was a member of the second-highest rewards level at the casino, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities also found a membership card for American Place Casino in Waukegan, Illinois.
The police acquired Yang’s records from the casino in Milwaukee, which showed a significant increase in the amounts he was wagering. For example, he wagered $86,318 on January 18, 2025.
Yang worked for Milwaukee Tool for eight years. He started in the supply chain department before moving to IT about two years ago.
Milwaukee Tool is a Brookfield-based company known for its generous program that allows employees to buy deeply discounted tools. The company was forced to shut down the discount program after it uncovered the plot earlier this year.
Yang allegedly created and deleted some 115 orders from March 2024 to March 2025. Of those orders, 109 shipments, valued at $1,086,263.85, were delivered.
Milwaukee Tool wasn’t the one to raise the red flag; it was the shipping company that found the sizeable shipment peculiar and notified the company. Yang tried to send about 9,000 pounds of tools to his apartment.
According to the Brookfield Police Department, the logistics company contacted Milwaukee Tool’s customer service department to confirm the delivery address, but employees couldn’t find the order number in the company’s internal system.
Milwaukee Tool fired the worker for “abuse of our employee purchase program.”