LATEST NEWS ARTICLES

Penny Sudworth, 36, wept as she was led to the cells to start a one-year prison sentence.

She diverted the money into her account and awarded herself a pay rise after becoming obsessed with bingo and slot machines, blowing up to £500 a day, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Sudworth was practice manager at Worsley Mesnes Health Centre in Wigan, responsible for paying invoices, the payroll and the surgery's bank account.

By the time her thefts were uncovered, the surgery had been left unable to pay its bills and was facing the threat of closure.

She spent some of the money on the £180,000 house in Appley Bridge, Wigan, which she shares with her husband and three children aged 15 to eight.

On her Friends Reunited page, she boasted that she was 'working my way up the career ladder' in the NHS, adding: 'Very exciting! Honestly, the things you do to earn a crust.'

However, in reality she was secretly diverting funds from the surgery into her own pocket to cover debts run up as a result of her growing addiction to gambling, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

She frittered away thousands of pounds on slot machines and bingo as what had begun as an escape from the pressures of work spiralled into what her own barrister called 'a vicious addiction'.

Sudworth pleaded guilty to the theft of more than £68,000 over a 15-month period, although the NHS believes the total loss exceeded £82,000.

William Swalwell, defending, said his client had never been in trouble before and was genuinely remorseful.

'She is obviously well-liked in the community and has brought terrible shame on herself,' he said.

'As a result of the stress she saw slot machines as an outlet, and the debts spiralled out of control.

'She did not realise how much money she had taken from the practice and now looks back and is truly horrified.'

Jailing her, Recorder Alan Booth said: 'The court takes a breach of trust of such magnitude very seriously.'

'The doctors' practice relied on you to conduct their financial affairs. It only came to light when the practice could not pay its bills.'

After the hearing, Pauline Smith of the NHS counter-fraud service said: 'She disgracefully abused her position of trust for her own gain.'

It has obtained a court order stopping her home from being sold pending a hearing seeking to recoup the stolen money.

The ABA Journal reports that former lawyer and TV commentator, Arelia Margarita Taveras, “has sued seven casinos for failing to stop her compulsive gambling that led to US$1-million in losses and the end of her law practice.”

Ms. Taveras was disbarred for taking US$99,000 from escrow accounts for real-estate and divorce clients to finance her gambling and now works as a call-centre operator in Minnesota.

However, with the law and the need for justice still coursing through her veins, Taveras is now, according to the ABA Journal, “seeking $20 million from six casinos in Atlantic City and one in Las Vegas that gave her high-roller treatment, offering her limousine rides and allowing her to bring her dog inside in her purse. She claims she would stay at the tables for days without sleeping and eating, using disposable wipes to brush her teeth…. In one five-day period in June 2005, casino staffers brought her glasses of orange juice and Snickers bars while she stayed at the tables until the point of exhaustion.”

"They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping,” she told Associated Press. “They had a duty of care to me."

A former accounting clerk was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for looting an Addison manufacturer of more than $1 million, which she used to feed a gambling addiction and buy diamonds and flat-screen TVs.

Jonah Bantug, 43, of Davis Junction, near Rockford, pleaded guilty in November in DuPage County to embezzling the funds from FastTrak Application Development Co. from May 2004 until August 2006.

Assistant State's Atty. Helen Kapas said Bantug forged company officials' names on 287 checks totaling $1,127,538.

In addition to the sentence, Judge George Bakalis ordered Bantug to pay $1,127,538 in restitution, which he acknowledged she has little chance of doing.

"You systematically looted the company for two years and made it your personal bank," Bakalis said. "You don't understand the extent of the damage you have done."

Company officials testified Wednesday the firm is closing and has been unable to complete severance packages, pension plans and pay benefits for more than 100 employees.

Kapas said most of the funds were used to gamble at Illinois riverboats and during trips to Las Vegas, and other purchases included "enough diamonds to wear on every finger and toe, high-end purchases, regular gifts" and cash sent to relatives.

Attorney Frank Scarpino said his client has a gambling addiction "and has lived in a dream world."

HAIKOU, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A board chairman of a state owned enterprise in south China's Hainan Province has been arrested for gambling away more than 10 million yuan (1.4 million U.S. dollars) of public funds, according to local discipline sources.

Zhu Dehua, 60, board chairman of the Gas Administration Corporation of Haikou, capital of Hainan, was convicted of embezzling more than 10.84 million yuan (1.5 million U.S. dollars)from public coffers, in which 1.95 million yuan had not been repaid, local prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Zhu once served as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the local legislature, Haikou City People's Congress.

He became addicted to gambling since he was brought by a merchant to the Casino Lisboa in Macao, one of the world's most famous casino resorts, for the first time in 2001.

Between 2001 and 2007, Zhu lost over 13 million yuan during 120gambling trips to Macao and Hong Kong, said the prosecutors.

Cases of government officials who gamble with public funds have given rise to public concerns and complaints. The government has conducted a nationwide crackdown over the past three years to punish civil servants who squander public funds in gambling trips abroad.

A gambler has been sent to jail for stealing a dead friend's identity in a bid to escape his £50,000 poker debts.

Norman Kay, 63, of Courtenay Terrace, Starcross, Devon, had planned to disappear and secretly meet up with his wife under his new name.

Kay had earlier pleaded guilty to improperly obtaining a passport, making false representations and attempted deception at Exeter Crown Court.

Kay was in debt after losing in high-stakes poker games, and decided to resurrect himself as Christopher Francis, a friend who was born the day before him and had died in 1974, prosecutor Emily Pitts told the previous hearing.

He obtained a passport, a birth certificate and a National Health Service medical card in the name of Mr Francis, together with his National Insurance number - with the aim of obtaining money from the Benefits Agency.

The court was told Kay's plan was to do a "Reggie Perrin", move abroad and live off benefits under a different name.

But benefits officials and police caught up with him when they realised he was living a double life in Sheffield and Devon.

Defence counsel Piers Norsworthy said Kay was in poor health, suffered from depression and turned to poker on a large scale, which landed him in debt.

"He felt useless as Norman Kay and in sheer desperation decided that Kay would cease to exist and Christopher Francis would be reborn," Mr Norsworthy said.

Sentencing Kay, the judge told him: "You were trying to escape from your £50,000 gambling debts and were using the identity of a dead friend who had been known to you for many years.

"The authorities are clear this type of activity must be eradicated. If and when people are found out they will receive immediate prison sentences."

EDMONTON - A mother of two who embezzled tens of thousands of dollars to pay for her expensive gambling habit was sentenced this morning to 18 months in jail.

Glenda Lorrie Gladue, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 after she forged more than 240 cheques and stole more than $150,000 while working as a bookkeeper between October 2003 and September 2005.

Provincial Court Judge Fred Day refused a request by defence lawyer Gwilym Davies to grant his client a conditional sentence order, which would have allowed her to serve her time in the community and to continue caring for her children, aged three and seven.

Day said there is no doubt her family was dysfunctional and that she had suffered physical abuse and battled drug addiction. However, he said she is likely to reoffend and the sentence must be a deterrent to others who would commit similar crimes.

Gladue wore a pink ski jacket over jeans and white tennis shoes in court today, her curly dark hair reaching down to the middle of her back. She showed no emotion when the judge issued his sentence.

In October 2003, Gladue took a job working as a bookkeeper for L.A.M. Technical Services, and in the following 15 months she forged 139 cheques totalling roughly $71,000. A representative from the company filed a victim impact statement in the case, which said the fraud had virtually destroyed the business.

Then, in June 2005, Gladue took a job with Edmonton's Douglas Udell Gallery, where she wrote 107 fraudulent cheques and netted more that $79,000. All of the money went into VLTs, slots and bingo.

In November 2006, Gladue was charged with a raft of offences, including two counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of theft over $5,000 and uttering forged documents. Even after the charges were laid, Gladue continued to gamble her money away, Crown prosecutor James Rowan said.

Day said it wasn't appropriate to issue an order requiring the woman to pay back the money she had stolen. He gave her one month to make arrangements for her children, who will likely be living with family in another province while their mother serves her time.

After one month, she is required to report to authorities at the Remand Centre to begin serving her sentence.

BINGHAMTON -- A Binghamton man caught up in a yearlong police investigation into illegal gambling has admitted to operating an illegal sports bookmaking business and taking more than $5,000 in weekly bets for two months, the Broome County District Attorney's office announced late Monday.

John Rumpel, 56, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony count of attempted enterprise corruption. Rumpel is expected to be sentenced Dec. 14 in Broome County Court to 90 days of work weekends and a three-year conditional discharge, the DA's office said.

Rumpel will also forfeit about $70,000 in cash and a 2002 Chevy Tahoe as part of his plea. State law requires the money be given to several government agencies, including the DA's office and the state police. The vehicle will be transferred to the state police.

Rumpel was taking bets totaling more than $5,000 on each Sunday from Dec. 17 through Feb. 4, the DA's office said.

Four others besides Rumpel were prosecuted as a result of the state police investigation into local illegal gambling. The investigation is continuing, the DA's office said.

Assistant Broome County District Attorney Thomas D. Jackson Jr. is handling the prosecutions. Michael Mollen, the then-24-year-old son of Broome County District Attorney Gerald F. Mollen, was a participant in poker games that were the subject of the state police special investigation. Michael Mollen did not engage in any criminal conduct, his father said.

It isn't a crime in New York to participate as a poker player or as a bettor in gambling, but it is a crime to profit from the games, according to state statutes.

The former office manager of a Buffalo law firm was sentenced Thursday to two to six years in prison for stealing almost $300,000 from the firm to pay off gambling and personal debts.

Erie County Judge Shirley Troutman noted that Mindy A. Hernandez, 36, daughter of acting Blasdell Village Justice Thomas J. Wojciechowski, is unlikely to fully repay the $289,716 she stole from Cole, Sorrentino, Hurley, Hewner & Gambino between May 2005 and last December.

But the judge ordered her to make $333.33 in monthly payments for 10 years after she is released from prison.

Hernandez, a Hamburg resident who had been free on bail until Thursday, pleaded guilty June 1 to seconddegree grand larceny and admitted to stealing the money through checks and law firm credit cards. Hernandez said she used the money to pay off casino and online gambling debts, as well as other personal debts. The law firm fired her last December, according to John C. Doscher, chief of the Erie County district attorney’s White Collar Crime Bureau.

Michael Vick has all kinds of legal troubles, some of which still might not have even been brought out yet, but his gambling on dog fights could deal the ultimate death penalty to his football career.

Everybody knows now that Vick was heavily involved with the dog fighting operation that was going on out of a home that he owned, he even plead guilty to it, but it's his involvement with the gambling on these dog fights that will eventually keep Vick from getting back on an NFL field anytime soon.

Next Monday Vick will be sentenced in Federal court and the recommendation of the prosecution will be a 12 to 18 month sentence. If the latter is upheld, then that means Vick would not be able to return to football until 2009. That's where his problems only begin.

If it turns out that Vick was the money behind the gambling operation during these dog fights, the NFL would be extremely reluctant to reinstate Vick to the league.

After the gambling scandal that just hit the NBA, the NFL would want no part of the media circus that would come with letting Vick, an accused gambler back in the league.

The fact that he lied to the commissioner when discussing these allegations certainly will not help Vick's cause, and since new commissioner Goodell has been strict with his league discipline standards, it would make more sense that Vick would be made an example of.

So for wagers that most likely do not even total up to one quarter of one game of Vick's salary, he now faces the rest of his life as a convicted felon, and possibly without the game that he played and loved, now that's paying the ultimate price for a bet.

By accepting a guilty plea today on those gruesome federal dog-fighting charges, Vick won't escape prison and he could be sentenced to more than a year. He will appear before U.S. Judge Henry Hudson next Monday morning for his plea hearing.

No details of the plea agreement have been made public, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has no choice but to indefinitely suspend Vick.

Vick's next big headache depends on how much he admits to being involved in gambling on dog-fighting, how heavily he was betting and what, if any, involvement there was from known gamblers. The NFL has historically come down very hard on players with ties to gambling (look no further than legends like Paul Hornung and Alex Karras). And Goodell is very concerned about the gambling aspects, especially in light of the recent NBA referee case.

The NFL doesn't like to acknowledge how many millions are bet every weekend on its games, but it does want fans to believe that the games are above scrutiny and the mere hint of a fix could potentially jeopardize the league's popularity.

Goodell could possibly suspend Vick for one season for dog-fighting and then another season for gambling. And these suspensions will come after Vick serves his prison sentence. If Vick spends this season in jail, it means Vick could be suspended for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. If he gets 18 months, he may be suspended through the 2010 season.

After that, what would motivate the NFL to allow him to play again? Even if Vick attempts to rehabilitate his image through an unprecedented amount of community service and charitable giving, how many owners would want to risk signing him after this? Besides, by 2010 Vick will be 30 and more than a little rusty.

Last week Vick attempted to get Goodell to agree to piggyback any possible suspension with potential prison time. Goodell was unwilling to commit to that course of action.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank wanted to suspend Vick when the indictment was handed down, but in order to recover any signing bonus money, the team needs Goodell to suspend Vick. Blank definitely feels betrayed by Vick, but another huge problem facing him is how will his fan base — 52 percent of his season ticket holders are African-American — react to the permanent loss of Vick, one of the league's most popular players. Some of Vick's fans in Atlanta actually believe that Vick was unfairly targeted by the Justice Department in this case.

But Vick dug his own hole here. Based on his plea, he lied to Goodell around the time of the draft when he said he was innocent of these charges. According to what his co-defendants said last Friday, Vick was killing dogs in April just prior to the draft.

Since he entered the league in 2001, Vick has received more than $60 million in salary and endorsements. It's nothing short of ludicrous that he threw away such a career and earning power by being involved in an illegal dogfighting betting ring.

Vick's guilty plea gives Goodell a chance to back up his tough stance on off-field behavior. If he doesn't send a message, he could face a PR nightmare.

The old saying fits here. Where some see crisis, others find opportunity. For Goodell, this is an opportunity.

Goodell has been clear that the New Deal in his era will be increased attention to players' off-field behavior and the ensuing upgrade of the image of his National Football League. Goodell wants this to be the league of LaDainian Tomlinson and Peyton Manning, not "Pacman" Jones. Headlines will be for touchdowns, not tavern brawls.

Vick agreed Monday to plead guilty to a variety of federal charges involving dogfighting and gambling. The specific charges and pleas will become public next week, when Vick shows up and says, yup, he did it.

That will trigger new rounds of stories that may have little to do with the legal action, but much to do with public opinion.

We have already heard about dogs fighting each other to the death, an illegal activity, for the amusement of Vick and his friends. We have also heard about the manner in which some dogs who didn't fight well were disposed of: drowning, electrocution, choking, being smashed to the ground.

The federal indictment against Vick included details of Vick's backyard and dogfighting emporium in suburban Newport News, Va. First, there was the "rape stand," where unwilling dogs were held to breed. Then, there were the "breaksticks" used to pry open the mouth of a dog.

Still, those aren't the things that would end Vick's career as a quarterback in the NFL. He will go to jail for those, and with sharp lawyers be out in less than a year. He will pay some fines, and unless he's Robin Hood (no chance) or Bruce McNall (also no chance), he will have enough left from the 10-year, $130-million contract (including $37 million in bonuses) he signed in December 2004 that any fine will look like chump change.

Pay attention to two things: the NFL's statement Monday on Vick's guilty plea agreement, and recent quotes from Goodell.

The statement: "We totally condemn the conduct outlined in these charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told our office and the Falcons."

And the quotes, given to USA Today's Jim Corbett just days ago: "There are areas we would be less flexible with, and gambling is one of them." And, two sentences later, on the same topic: "I don't appreciate being lied to."

Goodell is set up perfectly to exercise his powers as chief executive of the richest and most popular professional sport in the country.

He has a "conduct detrimental" clause, like all leagues, and if gambling is, indeed, part of the plea, Goodell has cause strong enough to withstand the inevitable court action that would claim Vick's employment rights have been taken away. Then, add in the ever-present 500-pound gorilla in a courtroom, lying to your employer, and it becomes fairly clear that, if Goodell wants to tell the world his league does not stand for this sort of behavior, now or in the future, he can do just that.

Goodell even has the ironic benefit of the timing of the Tim Donaghy case. The NBA has been devastated by one of its referees' admitting to gambling on games, including some he worked. That has brought the sports gambling issue to the front pages of newspapers and made it the lead stories of newscasts.

As this plays out, there will be the inevitable wave of sentiment for a second chance. Some of the talk shows chirped away Monday about how "they were only dogs."

There will be stories about Vick's tough upbringing in housing projects and being born to a mother who was 16 and a father who was 17, parents who waited to marry until after they had four kids.

There will be discussions about our current collegiate sports system, where star athletes all leave early -- Vick after two seasons at Virginia Tech -- rendering the "student-athlete" concept somewhat of a fraud.

And there will be the legal and PR spin of those whom Vick can pay handsomely to divert the blame. Already, his lawyer was speaking Monday of the "people Vick was associated with" and his implication was that none were altar boys.

Vick will still be a fairly young man when he leaves prison, and should have enough NFL money left to start a new life, away from the game. Some people actually work 40 hours a week, or more. Others risk life and limb in mines. Vick likely will need to do neither.

Goodell holds all the cards and if he eventually allows Vick back in the NFL, he will face one of the toughest public relations challenges in the history of any major sports commissioner.

Vick once suggested an appropriate nickname for himself, one he thought reflective of his football talents. It was "Superman."

Now, for awhile, that will work only if he finds a way to leap tall penitentiaries.

A BROTHEL owner is suing Crown casino over claims it "wilfully and recklessly" allowed a corrupt accountant to gamble away millions of dollars in stolen funds.

A sensational Supreme Court writ seen by the Herald Sun alleges casino chiefs accepted hundreds of cheques from disgraced former Geelong mayor Frank De Stefano, even though they knew he had obtained the money illegally.

De Stefano was jailed for 10 years in 2003 for stealing $8.6 million from 12 clients of his Geelong accountancy firm.

His victims included Donna Murdoch, the owner of the Main Course brothel in Dudley St, West Melbourne.

In a 27-page statement of claim, Ms Murdoch claims Crown provided De Stefano with a personal cheque-cashing facility that allowed him to draw funds directly from his accounting firm's St George Bank trust account.

"Crown knowingly received funds obtained in breach of trust and knowingly and dishonestly assisted the breaches of trust," it states.

The writ alleges the casino increased De Stefano's cheque-cashing facility on 450 occasions "in order to permit De Stefano to gamble, or continue gambling, notwithstanding that the limit . . . had been exhausted".

The alleged bank cheque scam involved a Crown staffer telephoning De Stefano two days before his cheques were presented "to ensure that he had transferred funds . . . to cover the value of the cheques".

Ms Murdoch alleges De Stefano presented Crown with 167 bank cheques totalling $10.9 million during the course of his gambling spree, before he was caught in 2001.

She claims another 77 cheques totalling $976,500 were dishonoured but that the scam went on regardless.

The law suit extends to the St George Bank, which Ms Murdoch accuses of assisting in the crimes.

A St George Bank spokeswoman said it would be strenuously defending the allegations.

"Crown's conduct was not dishonest by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people," the document states.

The allegations against the casino follow a similar Supreme Court writ lodged this year by multi-millionaire Gold Coast property developer Harry Kakavas.

Mr Kakavas alleges Crown allowed him to blow more than $30 million during a 14-month gambling spree despite being a banned problem gambler.

De Stefano's defence team alleged he had succumbed to being treated like royalty in the casino.

In sentencing him, Supreme Court Justice Murray Kellam said De Stefano's crimes had been callous and cruel.

Nicholas Kumar Bansal, 35, and Steven Kumar Bansal, 32, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in U.S. District Court on June 26. The co-defendants admitted to laundering more than $2.5 million in profits from operating an illegal gambling business from 1995 through 2006, according to U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg.

Their father, Raj Kumar Bansal, 63 of Annandale, was considered the leader of the organization, according to Rosenberg. At the height of the operation, Bansal and his sons — Nicholas Bansal, of Stafford, and Steven Bansal, of Kill Devil Hills, N.C. — were bringing in "tens of thousands of dollars" every week, according to police.

The sons both admitted to having "no-show" jobs at businesses in Arlington and Springfield, and engaging in a loan-sharking operation, according to Rosenberg.

The case, originally slotted for action in Fairfax County, was considered the largest organized crime and gambling case in Fairfax County's history. After a two-year investigation into illegal gambling on football and basketball in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, more than 100 officers and detectives served more than two dozens search warrants in the three states.

THOUSANDS OF GAMBLERS placed bets on collegiate and professional sports games through the operation, according to police.

Rajan Harjani, 48 of Springfield, Sharon Rudolph Connelly, 66 of Springfield, Donovan Anthony Moncrieffe, 39 of Alexandria, and Krishna Pillai Balakrishnan Nair, 64 of Alexandria, all face federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, being part of an enterprise engaged in an illegal gambling business, money laundering, robbery, extortion and witness tampering.

Connelly, the former director of the Office of Inspector and Auditor at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, owned several businesses and used these to make mortgage loans to gamblers as a ploy to collect their gambling debts, according to Rosenberg.

PROSECUTORS SEEK forfeiture of approximately $7.8 million and the assets of businesses accused of being involved, including: Poto, LLC, R&B Holding and Pro-Lenders, LLC in Alexandria; Executive Loans, LLC in Springfield; Friendly Trading Services, also known as "Latino African Market" in Arlington; and Alpine Moving and Storage, Alpine Transfer, Inc. and Premier Transport in Alexandria.

The conspiracy was apparently based out of Raj Bansal's home in Annandale, according to police reports at the time of their arrests in 2006.

As part of the investigation, "Operation Underdog," police seized more than $2 million from the suspects' bank accounts and nearly $1 million worth of jewelry.

While Gamblers Anonymous revealed plans to help problem gamblers living in rural areas of Scotland through the internet, a gambling addict is suing William Hill over £2 million in gambling losses.

Graham Calvert from Sunderland claims the bookmaker failied to stop him from continuing to gamble despite he asked to be banned as part of Hills' self exclusion policy.

JOHANNESBURG – A 34-year-old man had been arrested for allegedly faking a hijack in a bid to get more gambling money from his wife, North Rand police said on Monday.Police spokesman Captain Jethro Mtshali said the man called his wife on Saturday telling her he had been hijacked, and that R5 000 was needed for his release.She called the police and his vehicle tracking company, and his Toyota Conquest was found parked outside Emperors Palace casino in Kempton Park where he was found gambling.He admitted that he faked the hijack, saying he only wanted more money to gamble, Mtshali said.He would appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on a charge of defeating the ends of justice. – Sapa.

First, the place was stormed and looted by armed robbers. Then, when police arrived, they arrested a man they believed to be the manager of the operation.

The robbery happened about 12:30 a.m. when gunmen stormed an upper East Side joint called The National CardRoom, which had been hosting late-night games of no-limit Texas Hold 'em poker, police said.

The thieves stole cash from the poker room's bank and demanded all the players' money, police said. About 70 patrons were present at the time of the robbery, police said.

The gunmen remained at large yesterday, but police charged Edgar Concepcion, 29, with promoting gambling and possessing bookmaking supplies.

Playing poker for money is legal in New York, but it is against the law to organize such games for profit.

The NYPD cracked down on clandestine poker clubs throughout the city in 2005, including The National CardRoom, arresting dozens of people and confiscating thousands of dollars.

Attempts to reach Concepcion or his family yesterday were not immediately successful. It was unclear whether he had a listed telephone number.