Casino sued after stolen cash gambled

Casino sued after stolen cash gambled
KATE CAMPBELL, The West Australian

Burswood Casino is being sued for $600,000 stolen from a Perth engineering company by an accountant who used the money to help fund his gambling addiction.

In a Supreme Court writ lodged this week, Exceleng Corporation claims Burswood was "unjustly enriched" at its expense when accountant Anthony Bianco deposited stolen funds in a casino account from which he could withdraw gambling vouchers.

Bianco, who pleaded guilty to nearly 300 counts of stealing as a servant between 1998 and 2005, was sentenced to 3½ years jail in 2007 and served at least 21 months for siphoning $925,000 from his Naval Base employer.

Lawyers for Exceleng, trading as Alltype Engineering Services, argue that Burswood facilitated Bianco's breach of trust.

"(Burswood) recklessly failed to make any reasonable inquiry as to the funds so transferred into (the casino's) account and their source, and should reasonably have been aware, given the quantum of such transfers, that inquiry as to the funds and their source was required," the writ states.

Alltype managing director Colin Heitman said Burswood had a case to answer, claiming it ignored an obligation to report big transactions for independent tracking.

"I think Burswood has an obligation to protect businesses and individuals against fraud and they don't do that," he said.

"I don't think they uphold their duty of care when it comes to protecting people against electronic fraud.

"It was an extraordinary amount of money.

"Fortunately we've survived and moved on."

Bianco, of Cannington, said yesterday: "That was like six years ago.

"I'm all finished, I'm finished with that."

In a 2007 Court of Appeal decision that increased Bianco's original 2½-year term by a year, Bianco was described as an immature man in denial about his gambling addiction.

"His immaturity led him to identify achievement as related to being admired as a high roller and being well known in the casino context," the judgment said.

Burswood Casino declined to comment on the legal action.