Pokies lust drives a Japanese to steal his boss money and lose all at Crown Casino

Strange are the ways for problem gamblers. Recently a Japanese employer working in Australia stole AU$140,000 from his employer just to play pokies at Crown Melbourne. What the end of the story is really sad as the man after stealing the money from his boss went straight to Crown Casino and played pokies losing all the money just in four hours.  While sentencing the man to prison for 8 months the judge called his actions “naive, amateurish and unsophisticated”

The man gambled AU$140,00 and lost in all in four hours

This 23-year-old Japanese, now in jail used his employers money to gamble. Named as Takuro Yanagida this Japanese helped himself to his boss’s money after opening the suitcase where the money was with a key in October 2018. He then proceeded to the Crown Casino in Melbourne before losing all of it over four hours. Yanagida, who had developed a gambling habit prior to his trip to Melbourne, has already served 207 days in pre-sentence detention. He will need to serve another month before he is released and deported back to Japan. In total, he will have been detained for eight months.
Even the young man’s defense lawyer, Lachlan Cameron, admitted the scheme was “bound to fail” — especially because Yanagida appeared to make no attempt to cover his tracks, showing his passport and Crown membership card when he exchanged Kotani’s money for chips at the casino cage. All his movements inside the casino were caught on surveillance video.

After losing the money during a “panic-driven, opportunistic crime,” Yanagida denied his involvement. However, it was only when Crown Casino staff identified him that he came clean.

Judge Dyer said at the sentencing: “Your offending may have been initiated by a naive belief that you could use Mr. Kotani’s [his employer’s] money to win at the casino and pay off your financial situation. The loss of $140,000 has significantly impacted on his business activities while in Australia.

Unfortunately, in this case, not only did he lose his boss’s money, but he ended up in jail and probably lost his job as a result. It is not known if he will have to repay the $140,000 to his boss. If he does, that’s an extra bill on top of his gambling debts that he’ll have to pay off once he is released.

The lesson to be learned

This story is lesson for all those who play pokies without any wisdom and get addicted to the gaming machines. Problem gambling is receiving increased attention nowadays as people become more aware of the impact it can have on people’s lives. The silent killer this pokies addiction goes undetected for many years and you become all broke without any financial status. Also such gamblers then try to steal other’s money because they are in debt and want money to compensate their losses. Yanagida story of stealing his employer’s money is not new as previously also one British man who pleaded guilty after stealing £1m ($1.26m) from his employer to continue gambling. According to a report from December, Steve Girling would play £100 ($127) a spin on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) , spinning every few seconds. Due to the impact that FOBTs have had on people’s lives, with some bettors losing up to £18,000 ($23,000) an hour, the UK government lowered the stake limit from £100 down to £2 ($2.50) in April.

In  another story, a Card Player magazine employee was charged with embezzling around $1.1m(£865,000) from her employer when she was the company’s financial controller from 2011 to 2016. And two nuns reportedly stole $500,000 (£392,000) from a Catholic school in California to travel to Las Vegas for weekends away over a 10-year period before they were eventually found out.

This makes sense

• Play pokies for fun. There are hundreds of online casinos that offer pokies to play for fun without involving real money.
• Play pokies with real AUD wisely. At online casinos or local Australian casinos it is best to play pokies with real AUD wisely in a set budget or fixed bankroll. Don’t overspend or cross your bankroll or limit to spend the money lavishly at casinos.
• Note that you lose more than you win when playing pokies.
• Finally if you are hit by an addiction consult your nearest problem gambling centre. Avoid playing pokies and spend valuable time with your family and friends.