Daniel Burrell: Nantucket Arrest, Bellagio Charges, and Bank Lawsuits

Daniel Burrell’s arrest took place on September 20, 2024, when Nantucket police took the investor and attorney into custody at his 3 Brewster Road home on a Las Vegas felony warrant alleging he had passed $1.5 million in bad checks at the Bellagio casino. The arrest came one day after that same Nantucket estate was sold at a foreclosure auction, and it capped a run of bank lawsuits and forced property sales. All of the criminal charges tied to the arrest were eventually dismissed, with the Nevada case ending on March 3, 2025.¹

What Happened on Nantucket

Burrell was arraigned the same day as his arrest in Nantucket District Court on a fugitive-from-justice charge. Judge James Sullivan set bail at $10,000. Unable to post bail immediately, Burrell was held overnight at the Nantucket Police Department and released the following day.²³

The Nantucket fugitive charge itself was dismissed on October 7, 2024, after coordination between the Nantucket District Court and the Las Vegas Justice Court.¹ A separate Nantucket shoplifting charge, stemming from a June 17, 2024 incident, had already been dismissed on September 9, 2024, before arraignment, after Burrell reimbursed the vendor.²

The Las Vegas Bellagio Charges

The underlying Nevada case involved two checks totaling $1.5 million presented at the Bellagio on February 12, 2023. One check was for $1 million, the other for $500,000, and both were used for cash and chips. The casino later discovered that the Century Bank account tied to the checks had been closed.⁴

A criminal complaint was filed in Las Vegas Justice Court on May 16, 2024, and a warrant issued six days later, on May 22, 2024. The felony charges included drawing or passing a check with intent to defraud, obtaining money by false pretenses valued at $100,000 or more, and theft valued at $100,000 or more.¹ Under Nevada law, unpaid casino markers, which function as lines of credit, can be prosecuted under bad-check statutes.

All Nevada charges were dismissed by the state on March 3, 2025, after the court entered a judgment regarding the amount Burrell owed the casino.¹

Burrell’s Account

Speaking to the Nantucket Current after the dismissal, Burrell rejected the fugitive label. He said notice of the Las Vegas hearing had been sent to his former Aspen home, which had already been foreclosed on, so he never received it. “I had no legal representation at that time of the initial hearing date because I did not even know that such date existed,” he said.¹

On the substance, he argued the debt should have stayed a civil matter. “The law was not meant to apply to a person, in this case, me, trying to resolve such debt privately through constructive and active negotiation,” he said. He added that “in no way was the casino in question claiming that I had written or physically given to them a ‘bad bank check,'” describing the debt as one that simply fell under the relevant Nevada statute.¹

He also pushed back against any suggestion he had been trying to flee. He said he was on Nantucket to manage the sale of the property, and that his whereabouts were well known to the media and to potential bidders at the auction.¹

The Bank Lawsuits Behind the Arrest

The arrest arrived in the middle of a wave of civil litigation. By late 2023 and into 2024, several banks were pursuing Burrell over defaulted loans backed by luxury properties.

First Western Trust Bank sued in November 2023 to recover $56 million in business and construction loans, with Burrell’s Aspen estate at 768 Hunter Creek Road among the named collateral. In January 2024, a judge authorized First Western to sell two Burrell-owned properties at 969 and 1043 Willits Lane in Basalt, Colorado.⁵
Alpine Bank sued in Aspen in March 2024 over an unpaid $18 million balance on an $18.5 million loan issued in 2021, seeking to foreclose on the Hunter Creek Road estate.⁵
Century Bank sued in September 2023 over $15 million in loans secured by Burrell’s Taos Valley Ranch in New Mexico. On July 31, 2024, a judge granted the bank a $22 million summary judgment. The ranch was auctioned on the Taos County courthouse steps on September 12, 2024, and Century Bank bought it for $18 million.⁶⁷
Bank of America filed a lawsuit seeking just under $4.5 million.²
U.S. Bank had a pending Aspen lawsuit over an allegedly unpaid $3.5 million loan.⁵
Equilibrium Multi Strategy Fund brought a court action seeking $8.8 million owed by two companies Burrell controlled. When he failed to appear at a hearing, a Pitkin County judge issued a bench warrant on May 13, 2024, which was later canceled in late July 2024.¹

Burrell fought back against at least one lender. In January 2024, he countersued First Western Trust Bank, alleging predatory lending. He claimed the bank had provided business loans knowing he intended to use the funds for personal expenses including cars, a yacht, and divorce payments, and he accused the bank of publicly disclosing his debts. First Western moved to dismiss the countersuit, arguing that Burrell was a “sophisticated Yale-educated lawyer and entrepreneur” who had misrepresented his intended use of the funds.⁵

The Property Sales

Burrell has said he no longer holds any “undisposed real estate” and has been through “$102.3 million of forced dispositions” through auctions or direct sales. Reported sale prices include:

Who Daniel Burrell Is

Burrell holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from Yale.⁸ In the private sector he founded The Burrell Group, a holding company with interests in medical education, real estate, financial services, construction, aviation, and other industries.² From 2009 to 2013, he served as CEO of Rosemont Realty, a Santa Fe-based commercial real estate firm that under his leadership grew to manage roughly 20 million square feet of office space across 173 buildings in 25 states.⁹

He also founded the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, a for-profit medical school affiliated with New Mexico State University. In connection with the 2024 arrest, the college stated that Burrell had had no affiliation with or ownership of the institution since February 2022.⁶

The felony criminal charges tied to the arrest have all been dismissed, but the civil judgments and loan defaults that drove the foreclosures remain part of his record.

1
Nantucket Current. Aspen Businessman Arrested Last Year at Nantucket Home on Vegas Warrant Has Case Dismissed, Speaks Out on Incident
2
Nantucket Current. Fugitive Aspen Investor Arrested on Nantucket After His Island Estate Sold at Foreclosure Auction
3
8 News Now. Man Accused of Passing Bad Checks Worth $1.5M at Las Vegas Casino Arrested in Nantucket
4
CDC Gaming Reports. Warrant Issued for Millionaire Accused of Writing $1.5M in Bad Checks to Bellagio
5
Denver Post. Dan Burrell Aspen Foreclosure Lawsuit
6
Santa Fe New Mexican. Former CEO of Santa Fe-Based Rosemont Realty Arrested on Charge of Bad $1.5M Check
7
Taos News. Former Taos Valley Ranch Owner Arrested
8
HuffPost. Daniel Burrell
9
Santa Fe New Mexican. Poised for Growth, Rosemont Realty CEO Wants to Nurture New Mexico