Fifteen poker machines have been confiscated from private homes and pawn shops. A former gaming club operator and gaming technician are now in hot water after it was discovered that they attempted to illegally resell the games. According to 9 News, The poker machines were damaged when the Maitland Bowling Club caught fire.
The club owner and a gaming technician then reported the games as trashed but instead illegally refurbished them. Instead of destroying the games, the two parties put them back on the market, selling them via Facebook and pawn brokers to people who wished to have real pokies in their homes. It is believed that some of the games were sold for at least $13 000, making the scam artists $200 000 so far.
Should they have sold all 15 games, they could have made up to $300 000. Across Australia, all poker machines must be accounted for. They cannot be resold privately, as there is the risk of people using the games to run illegal gambling parlours from their private residences.
Club owners must document and report the destruction of all pokies and their parts, so there was a great deal of fraud involved in this scam. “The level of sophistication and collusion that occurred in this instance we haven't seen before,” says Troy Grant, Minister for Hospitality, Gaming and Racing.
“Club officials were colluding with licensed gaming technicians to falsify documents, change gaming machines in order to rebirth them into the industry.” So, if you’d like to have poker machines in your leisure room or ‘man cave’, do not purchase a real game. There are plenty of replica versions available on the web, which will not be seized from your home.
There are even fines for having real pokies in your private residence, and you could pay up to $11 000 or even face time in jail!
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