Gambling venues are known for attracting crime, but very few criminals are brave enough to steal from the casino itself. Yesterday, one man decided to take the chance – and was arrested for attempting to steal money from a poker machine. According to Brad Morgan, general manager at SkyCity Casino in Darwin, a man had found keys for the casino’s pokies.
He then used to keys to get into the games and steal money that players had used to wager. The police were notified of the crime at 7:30 in the morning. They were able to track him down within a few hours. He was arrested at Darwin Showgrounds. The man is 24-years-old, and the police have yet to release any other details. They are currently investigating the crime to determine whether or not any other parties were involved.
There is no word on how he obtained the keys, so there is the possibility that he was given them by a member of staff. This is the second time this year that a crime of this nature has occurred. In January 2013, a man stole nearly $1000 from poker machines in a club. He had found the keys to the games and opened them up to steal their cash.
He did not get very far, because he visited another venue down the street to wager the stolen money on more pokies. If anything, these crimes should serve as cautionary tales. Stealing from poker machines is made easy when venue staff leave their keys unattended. It is important for pokie club and casino staff to keep an eye on their keys at all time.
Some gamblers can become desperate after losing a significant amount of money, and there is always the possibility that they will take advantage of having the ability to ‘recoup’ their losses – even in an illegal sense.
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