A croupier of the Rubicon Casino, which is located in the Temple Street in the centre of Wolverhampton city, stole more than 16,500 pounds. The croupier, Shaun Pace, was a gambling addict; he committed the crime because a losing streak had left in the position of being unable to buy his children any presents for Christmas.
Caught during ‘player tracking’
The compliance manager of the Rubicon Casino caught the croupier committing the crime during ‘player tracking’ – which involves monitoring both employees as well as customers to ensure that no wrongdoing was being committed. It was found that the Pace, who is 27 years old, was allowing a punter to win irrespective of the wheel spin on the table of roulette that he was based on, according to the prosecutor, Marcus Kraehling-Smith. Mr. Kraehling-Smith said that it was found that even on bets that didn’t win, money was paid.
119 transactions in less than three weeks
Once Pace was caught red handed, the police were notified and they alerted the croupier the very next day while he was at work. Pace then confessed that he had entered into an agreement with a customer and it involved splitting of the profit. A thorough investigation found that one hundred and nineteen transactions had taken place between the Pace and “the customer” between December 13 and New Year’s Day. The total amount of money involved in the transactions was 16,540 pounds. Pace, though confessing to committing the crime, alleged that the amount did not exceed 12,000 pounds, out of which he had only received 1,300 pounds. Mr. Hafeez, who defended Pace, said that at the time, the croupier was in desperate need of money, courtesy of addiction to gambling.
Pace was eventually sentenced to prison for six months and 80 hours of unpaid work. This case goes on to show why one shouldn’t turn gambling into a habit.
