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GAMBLING-crazed Victorians have been sentenced to more than 200 years in jail forstealing at least $80 million from families, employers and clients.In the latest case, police are investigating whether $700,000 stolen from alife-saving Melbourne medical research unit was lost on poker machines.A Herald Sun investigation has found at least 55 Victorians have spent time behindbars for gambling-related crimes since poker machines and the casino were introducedmore than a decade ago.Many of these criminals are first-time offenders.Gambling watchdogs and the legal fraternity fear a new type of criminal is beingfuelled by addiction to Victoria's 30,000 poker machines.
Welfare and anti-pokies groups have warned the lost $80 million -- a figure collatedfrom newspaper reports of major cases -- is only the tip of the iceberg.With more than two centuries of jail sentences already imposed on gambling-addictedcriminals, they warned that taxpayers would be footing a multi-million-dollar prisonbill for years."It's all anecdotal at present, but the figure just has to be higher," saidCommunity Action on Pokie Problems chairman Mike Hill. "It's too hard to findaccurate figures because the courts don't make the connection with gambling andcrime."In the latest case, a huge theft was uncovered at the Heart Research Centre, based atthe Royal Melbourne Hospital.The money is believed to have been stolen over years by a trusted figure formerlyconnected to the centre.A poker machine link came to light after police began investigating several monthsago.A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a 35-year-old woman had been interviewed onNovember 25 by Carlton detectives.
She is expected to be charged on summons withobtaining property by deception.Auditors from accountancy firm KPMG are aiding the investigation.The Heart Research Centre studies heart disease and helps improve the quality of lifeof patients and their families. It receives no government funding and relies onpublic donations and bequests.The centre's cardiology consultant, Dr Alan Goble, said the thefts, over years, wereregrettable but would not affect the HRC's work.
Dr Goble said the centre had tightened procedures and donors should not worry theirpledges would vanish.Victorians last year gambled away over $4 billion -- more than half lost on thepokies.The State Government raked in more than $829 million from poker machines lastfinancial year.Gambling taxes provide about 13 per cent of its total revenue.But Melbourne barrister Brian Rolfe said the financial bonanza had come at a hugesocial cost. He said problem gamblers created a new class of criminal, most of whomhad never previously been in trouble with the law.Mr Rolfe, who represented a Keilor Downs gambling addict convicted over a $4.5million fraud, said the legal profession was amazed at the new type of criminalsbeing created in gaming venues."They come from good backgrounds, very often from managerial backgrounds," hesaid."
They are as addicted to what they are doing as a heroin addict who injects and Ithink these gaming centres have a high degree of responsibility for it."The Interchurch Gambling Taskforce said the Government was putting revenue ahead ofgambling's cost to society.Chairman John Dalziel said with billions of gambling dollars being poured into thestate's coffers, the Government was reluctant to take any serious action to controlpoker machine addiction.A spokeswoman for Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos said the Government wascommitted to looking after people who lost control of their gambling."
The Bracks Government has introduced the toughest responsible gambling measures inAustralia and provided record funding for counselling and support services for thesmall number of problem gamblers," she said.But the former head of the state-funded Gambling Research Panel, Professor LindaHancock, said a chronic lack of resources had stopped crucial research beingcompleted.Prof Hancock said a study into the link between crime and gambling was just one ofmany crucial projects never started because of a lack of staff at the now-defunctpanel.Mr Pandazopoulos's spokeswoman said the panel was always offered adequate funding forresearch projects, which would now be completed under a more effective body.
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http://www.blogator.com/go.php?i=770846
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=532 height=42>
GAMBLING-crazed Victorians have been sentenced to more than 200 years in jail forstealing at least $80 million from families, employers and clients.In the latest case, police are investigating whether $700,000 stolen from alife-saving Melbourne medical research unit was lost on poker machines.A Herald Sun investigation has found at least 55 Victorians have spent time behindbars for gambling-related crimes since poker machines and the casino were introducedmore than a decade ago.Many of these criminals are first-time offenders.Gambling watchdogs and the legal fraternity fear a new type of criminal is beingfuelled by addiction to Victoria's 30,000 poker machines.
Welfare and anti-pokies groups have warned the lost $80 million -- a figure collatedfrom newspaper reports of major cases -- is only the tip of the iceberg.With more than two centuries of jail sentences already imposed on gambling-addictedcriminals, they warned that taxpayers would be footing a multi-million-dollar prisonbill for years."It's all anecdotal at present, but the figure just has to be higher," saidCommunity Action on Pokie Problems chairman Mike Hill. "It's too hard to findaccurate figures because the courts don't make the connection with gambling andcrime."In the latest case, a huge theft was uncovered at the Heart Research Centre, based atthe Royal Melbourne Hospital.The money is believed to have been stolen over years by a trusted figure formerlyconnected to the centre.A poker machine link came to light after police began investigating several monthsago.A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a 35-year-old woman had been interviewed onNovember 25 by Carlton detectives.
She is expected to be charged on summons withobtaining property by deception.Auditors from accountancy firm KPMG are aiding the investigation.The Heart Research Centre studies heart disease and helps improve the quality of lifeof patients and their families. It receives no government funding and relies onpublic donations and bequests.The centre's cardiology consultant, Dr Alan Goble, said the thefts, over years, wereregrettable but would not affect the HRC's work.
Dr Goble said the centre had tightened procedures and donors should not worry theirpledges would vanish.Victorians last year gambled away over $4 billion -- more than half lost on thepokies.The State Government raked in more than $829 million from poker machines lastfinancial year.Gambling taxes provide about 13 per cent of its total revenue.But Melbourne barrister Brian Rolfe said the financial bonanza had come at a hugesocial cost. He said problem gamblers created a new class of criminal, most of whomhad never previously been in trouble with the law.Mr Rolfe, who represented a Keilor Downs gambling addict convicted over a $4.5million fraud, said the legal profession was amazed at the new type of criminalsbeing created in gaming venues."They come from good backgrounds, very often from managerial backgrounds," hesaid."
They are as addicted to what they are doing as a heroin addict who injects and Ithink these gaming centres have a high degree of responsibility for it."The Interchurch Gambling Taskforce said the Government was putting revenue ahead ofgambling's cost to society.Chairman John Dalziel said with billions of gambling dollars being poured into thestate's coffers, the Government was reluctant to take any serious action to controlpoker machine addiction.A spokeswoman for Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos said the Government wascommitted to looking after people who lost control of their gambling."
The Bracks Government has introduced the toughest responsible gambling measures inAustralia and provided record funding for counselling and support services for thesmall number of problem gamblers," she said.But the former head of the state-funded Gambling Research Panel, Professor LindaHancock, said a chronic lack of resources had stopped crucial research beingcompleted.Prof Hancock said a study into the link between crime and gambling was just one ofmany crucial projects never started because of a lack of staff at the now-defunctpanel.Mr Pandazopoulos's spokeswoman said the panel was always offered adequate funding forresearch projects, which would now be completed under a more effective body.
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