Gambling Addict Robs Banks

Former MRU student leader feels “incredibly guilty” for bank robbery

 

By Daryl Slade, Calgary HeraldJune 18, 2013

Former Mount Royal University president Meghan Melynk walks into the Calgary Courts Centre on Monday for sentencing arguments in her conviction for robbing a bank in February 2012.

Photograph by: Gavin Young , Calgary Herald

Former Mount Royal University student union president Meghan Melnyk insisted Monday that she is remorseful for robbing a bank last year to feed a gambling habit.

“It’s been stated in court a couple of times I was minimizing or rationalizing the effect it had,” Melnyk said following sentencing arguments. “I know how horrible my crime was. I feel incredibly guilty and so much remorse.”

Melnyk said the “infamy” from media coverage of the case has been very hard on her and has made it difficult to get a job.

She added, however, that she has spent a great deal of time talking to young crowds about the effects of committing a crime as a result of addiction.

Melnyk’s lawyer, Tonii Roulston, is seeking a conditional sentence of less than two years so Melnyk will not have to go to jail.

As a fallback argument, if provincial court Judge Anne Brown feels jail is the only option, she seeks 90 days to be served on weekends and a lengthy probation period.

“I’m asking the court to consider a conditional sentence and a finding that it is not a serious personal-injury offence,” Roulston argued.

Crown prosecutor Ken McCaffrey insisted the heist is a serious personal-injury offence, and that it warrants a four-year federal prison term.

“The type of robbery it is, with a victim, is aggravating,” said McCaffrey. “The fact there is a threat of violence — saying she has a weapon — and the fact the offence was also planned.”

Melnyk previously pleaded guilty to being disguised, having unauthorized possession of a weapon and breaching her probation.

“This is not the kind of offence you can just laugh off,” said McCaffrey. “It is a harrowing experience for anyone to be robbed, as in this case.”

According to an agreed statement of facts presented as an exhibit, Melnyk entered the Servus Credit Union at 5303 68th Ave. S.E. on Feb. 29, 2012, and passed a note to a teller indicating she was armed and demanded cash.

The teller put $6,180 in cash, bait bills and a dye pack in a manila envelope. Staff noted her licence plate as she left and called 911.

Police arrested Melnyk in a silver PT Cruiser later that day.

Court heard the envelope, along with a grey sweater, sunglasses, makeup and used makeup removers, were found in the car, which Melnyk owned. Police also found a butterfly knife.

Outside court, Melnyk told reporters she had a gambling addiction unrelated to VLTs and admitted the university’s proximity to a casino was a problem.

Brown adjourned sentencing until Sept. 9.


Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Former+student+leader+feels+incredibly+guilty+bank+robbery/8538827/story.html#ixzz2Wtd3Ebg2

Casino sucks $1.5 MILLION from 60 year old Gambling Addict

Gambling addict sentenced to four years for stealing $1.5M from employers

By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

April 15, 2013
Stealing $1.5 million from her employers to feed a severe gambling addiction has landed a Calgary woman a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Provincial court Judge Harry Van Harten said Monday in sentencing Janice Lorraine Boyes, 60, that one of the main aggravating factors was the amount of the fraud against Integrated Environments Ltd. — $1,522,219.

“The accused was in a position of trust relative to the victims,” said Van Harten. “No restitution has been or is ever likely to be made, The IEL principals, near the end of their working lives, have been significantly affected by this crime. The accused has two previous convictions for identical offences.”

Boyes was handed a 12-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation on Oct. 11, 2002, for stealing $32,123 from Bull and Finch Pub, where she was a bookkeeper. None of the amount of that restitution ordered has been paid.

The woman was also given a six-month conditional sentence Dec. 4, 2000, for fraud over $5,000 against Loss Prevention Group Inc., where she worked as an accountant. She never paid $3,115 ordered by the court for restitution in that case.

Van Harten agreed with Crown prosecutor Brian Kiers that a five-year sentence was appropriate because of the huge fraud, but reduced it by six months for her guilty plea.

Defence lawyer Telmo Dos Santos had argued for three years for his client.

“Indeed, and fortunately, it is a rare instance in which a fraudster can take this amount of money from a single victim,” said the judge.

The judge noted that Miles Scott-Brown and Joseph Wells, IEL’s two principle shareholders, spoke in their victim impacts statements that they lost far more than money.

Scott-Brown described the negative effect the crime had on staff morale and the company’s positive, co-operative work culture, and that he expected he’d have to delay his retirement plans.

Wells said there was a loss of trust within IEL, as well as personal stress and sleeplessness it caused him, especially because he brought Boyes into the company. He estimated he would have to work another five years to overcome the financial losses.

Court heard the fraud occurred over a four-year period.

Kiers said previously in reading an agreed statement of facts that Boyes used her IEL bank card and Interac to make 1,134 unauthorized transfers, either from the company’s account to her personal account, withdrawals or cash advances totalling $1,522,219.

The prosecutor said the fraud began Jan. 9, 2007, and continued until Aug. 16, 2010, when one of the company’s executives requested that she bring him the company’s accounting records.

Boyes admitted she had used the card for her own purposes.

A few weeks later, another IEL executive asked Boyes for the password to access the company’s online banking.

When she finally gave him the information, again after some delay, he discovered a number of unauthorized withdrawals from the accounts and noted several of the transactions were debit card purchases made at the Grey Eagle Casino.

When confronted, Boyes admitted taking the money and told him about her gambling problem. She again admitted the fraud the next day in an email, and advised him she was getting help for her problem.

Police were then called by IEL and Boyes was charged Jan. 10, 2012, following an extensive investigation by an accounting firm.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta/Gambling+addict+sentenced+four+years+stealing/8245505/story.html

Calgary gambling addict jailed for $1.5M fraud Sun News Network CALGARY -- Bilking more than $1.5 million from her employer to feed her gambling addiction has landed a thrice convicted fraudster a 4 1/2-year prison term. Provincial court Judge Harry Van Harten on Monday agreed with Crown attorney Brian Kiers' ...

Police Civilian Staffers Steals to Feed Addiction

Edmonton police civilian staffer admits to stealing for gambling

•  October 9th, 2012

TONY BLAIS | QMI AGENCY

Edmonton Police Headquarters

Credits: TOM BRAID/QMI AGENCY

EDMONTON - A former civilian employee with the Edmonton Police Service has admitted to stealing nearly $85,000 from the community cadet program to fuel his gambling addiction.

John Alvin Jerke, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday in provincial court to one count of fraud over $5,000.

 

According to agreed facts, Jerke was hired in 2003 as the youth programs co-ordinator and was responsible for the recruitment, selection and training, of the not-for-profit volunteer cadets. He was terminated on May 27, 2011.

 

In early 2009, parent support for the cadets had waned and some volunteer positions with the 189th Parent Group were left vacant for significant periods of time.

 

As a result, financial controls had been eroded and Jerke took on the responsibility of receiving the bank statements for the group and advising them that he had reconciled the statements and the books were in good order.

 

In June 2009, Jerke began taking advantage of the trust placed in him and was not following the earlier financial rule of submitting receipts for items purchased before getting a reimbursement cheque.

 

Over the next two years, Jerke requested 55 reimbursements for $147,000 worth of goods and services using falsified receipts. Of the 55 requests, 39 of them, for a total of $84,619, were reimbursed to Jerke.

 

The frauds were uncovered when a new group treasurer began insisting on receipts being provided before reimbursements and Jerke submitted further bogus receipts she suspected were forgeries. She then went to police.

 

Jerke initially admitted that some of the receipts were fake, but pegged the value at about $7,000. He later bumped it up to $20,000, but never the actual amount.

 

No restitution has yet been made.

 

A review of Jerke's financial records and his personal life suggests that he "spent the money at casinos and VLTs." Jerke has admitted having a gambling problem and was seen several times playing VLTs with a wad of $100 bills.

 

As a result of the fraud, the group was struck from the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission's list of charitable companies which could receive gaming revenues.

 

The group was also struck from a list of charitable organizations by Service Alberta.

 

As well, the cadet program's insurance was cancelled due to non-payment, leaving the group exposed to loss in event of an insurable incident, and vendors began using collection agencies to recoup losses as Jerke had left the group with about $20,000 in outstanding debt to vendors.

 

The police cadets program, established more than 50 years ago, is a joint venture between city cops and a group of parent volunteers. The cadets are between the ages of 14 and 20.

 

A pre-sentence report was ordered on Jerke, who remains free on bail, and a sentencing hearing was scheduled for Jan. 7.

 

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2012/10/20121009-173825.html

 

Biggest gambling addict is the government

Biggest gambling addict is the Alberta government

By Rev. Linda C. Hunter and C, Calgary Herald

Reader says it’s time to acknowledge that while gambling funds many worthy things, it is also highly destructive when people get addicted.

Photograph by: Archive , Calgary Herald

Re: "Guilt money," Editorial, July 7.

Thank you for focusing the spotlight on a devastating problem - gambling addiction. The most seriously addicted group is, of course, the government of Alberta, seduced by the lure of easy money to swell the coffers, rather than using our tax base to balance the budget or provide us with important services like health care.

As well, the Alberta government uses gambling revenues to finance charitable, non-profit organizations through its Community Spirit grants. The irony is that we are all encouraged to gamble to make our society a better place, quietly ignoring the lives we are destroying.

One statistic you did not include in your editorial is the number of Albertans who attempt or succeed at suicide because of their gambling addiction. You couldn't quote that statistic because the government refuses to release such information. We are one of the few provinces that will not do so, lamely claiming it is impossible to link a suicide to a gambling addiction. If that is the case, how is it possible for Quebec to release such statistics?

Some will argue that we live by free choice, so if addiction comes to you, it is your problem. However, the depth of human misery incurred by a gambling addiction is staggering, leading to despair, disintegration and the loss of life itself.

Is it not time for us to care about each other enough to quit greasing the wheels to the point where even the most disciplined among us can fall into the trap of a gambling addiction?

Rev. Linda C. Hunter, Calgary Linda Hunter is reverend at Wild Rose United Church.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Biggest+gambling+addict+Alberta+government/6939042/story.html#ixzz20sphuVJJ

Funding delay ‘seriously impairs’ River Cree Casino

Funding delay ‘seriously impairs’ River Cree Casino
Default on $100 million debt could cause bankruptcy action
By Gary Lamphier and Lewis Kelly, edmontonjournal.com
April 20, 2012

EDMONTON — Alberta’s largest destination resort casino faces a possible bankruptcy filing after defaulting on more than $100 million of debt owed to a group of major financial institutions.

River Cree Resort and Casino — co-owned by Las Vegas-based Paragon Gaming and the Enoch Cree First Nation — failed to meet a deadline to repay $111 million of term loans due to a group of six lenders.

The debt, representing the balance of a $180 million financing package secured by River Cree’s owners in 2006 when the sprawling casino, hotel and entertainment complex west of Edmonton was built, was due Monday, a court filing states.

River Cree’s lending syndicate — which includes the giant Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, BMO Guardian Capital and Mackenzie Financial, among others — subsequently issued a notice demanding repayment of the loans, the filing states.

The dispute appears to have been triggered, at least in part, by an alleged interruption in the normal flow of funds to the resort complex from the province’s First Nations Development Fund (FNDF), administered by the department of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations.

In an application filed with Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench early this week, Paragon is seeking an order directing two trust companies — CIBC Mellon Trust and BNY Trust Co. of Canada — to disburse $11.7 million of FNDF funds that Paragon alleges are currently frozen.

“CIBC has refused to transfer the FNDF funds from the FNDF account,” Paragon president Scott Menke said in an affidavit.

“The FNDF funds are used, among other uses, to fund the operations of the resort. Without the FNDF funds, (Paragon’s) ability to operate the resort is and will be seriously impaired.”

In an interview, Menke said the River Cree Casino remains very successful, and the owners recently secured a refinancing commitment from a major Canadian bank to replace the outstanding loans, a source said.

“The River Cree Casino is one of the most successful casinos in Western Canada. We’re upset by the recent decision coming out of aboriginal relations, and confused by it. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail,” Menke told the Journal.

“The government knew of the April 15 deadline for our existing loan. We have been negotiating with the government for a year, and we’re baffled as to why they haven’t taken that seriously. Now we find ourselves in default.”

In his affidavit, Menke said a department official expressed concern that the proposed uses of the FNDF funds in 2012 differ from the original uses outlined under a 2005 agreement. But he said that is incorrect.

Mike Deising, a spokesman for the department of Intergovernmental, International and Aboriginal Relations, disputed Paragon’s version of events.

“Paragon is entitled to its opinion and interpretation on things. What I can tell you is we have a grant agreement with Enoch. It’s a seven-year agreement, dating back to 2005 ... saying that we’re going to direct FNDF funding,” he said.

“To date we’ve given Enoch $190 million. By the end of this year, we will give them $212 million, when the grant ends. We just gave Enoch $11 million last week. We are directing funds to Enoch as per the FNDF grant application that they have right now, that expires at the end of this year,” he said.

“FNDF money cannot be used for gaming operations or security or per capita distribution. Other than that, everything’s on the table.”

Despite the loan default and the ongoing dispute over access to FNDF funds, Menke said River Cree will continue to operate normally, and there will be no short-term impact on its employees.

“The casino will stay open for a long period of time. We’re ready to do whatever it takes for the next periods of time to work with government to see that we can get through it. The casino employs 800 people, provides $45 million dollars in goods and services to the greater Edmonton area, it brings in tourism from all parts of the province,” he said.

“We would have never thought that we’d be in this situation. We’d had such a great working relationship with all levels of the Alberta government. To find ourselves in this situation ... is very upsetting to us.”

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Addicted to gambling revenue

Of all the pathetic government statistics that promote predatory gambling as fiscal policy, this is pretty gruesome --

...Statistics Canada studies over the last few years found the average adult Albertan spent $890 annually on gambling, far more than any other province and the national average of $524.

Albertans are gambling less, drinking more: Stats Can

EDMONTON — The economic slump saw people gamble substantially less in Alberta last fiscal year — still spending a mind-boggling $25 billion on VLTs, slots, and the like — although booze sales were "recession proof" and actually increased during the downturn to about $2 billion.


The eye-popping numbers from the 2008-09 fiscal year have opposition members of the legislature arguing the provincial government is addicted to gambling revenue, and has sparked more questions about the number of gaming machines in Alberta and a proliferation of casinos.


On the booze front, wine and spirits continued to increase in popularity compared to beer, although suds sales in draught and bottle still dwarf all other kinds of alcohol. Wine sales, though, have increased more than one-third in the last four years.


While Albertans certainly like their liquor, they also enjoy rolling the dice.


But total gambling revenues in Alberta dropped about five per cent last year to $25 billion, down from $26.3 billion the previous year, according to an Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission report released Tuesday.


"It's a reflection of the downturn and also the age of our VLTs," explained provincial Solicitor General Fred Lindsay, noting many video lottery terminals are getting old and have outdated technology that's no longer appealing to regular gamblers.


Of the $25 billion in total gaming revenues collected last fiscal year, about $15.5 billion came from slot machines, $8.9 billion from VLTs and the rest from electronic bingo and lottery ticket sales. About $22.8 billion was paid back out in prizes.


The largest drop in gambling revenue came from the aging VLTs, which saw a 16 per cent drop in 2008-09 compared to the roughly $10.5 billion the previous year.


Government policy dictates Alberta can have no more than 6,000 VLTs in the province. Last year, there were 5,964, a slight drop from previous years.


The popularity of one-armed bandits — slot machines — gained at VLTs' expense. The number of slot machines grew about seven per cent to 12,680, while revenue increased by more than $360 million.


The number of casinos in the province grew to 24 last year — a 50 per cent increase from just four years earlier.


All told, gambling revenues in Alberta have soared nearly 70 per cent over the past eight years (up from nearly $15 billion in 2001).


Indeed, Statistics Canada studies over the last few years found the average adult Albertan spent $890 annually on gambling, far more than any other province and the national average of $524.


Liquor popularity, meanwhile, increased both in volume and sales. More than $2 billion was spent on booze last fiscal year, up more than $50 million from the previous year. More than 343 million litres of booze was consumed in total, including about 271 million litres of beer, 31 million litres of wine and 25 million litres of spirits.


"It seems like liquor is recession-proof. Whether the economy is good or the economy is bad, it didn't seem to affect it," Lindsay said.


Gambling, however, seems to be a different story, although the numbers are still hard to fathom.


While the minister recognizes Albertans enjoy trying lady luck, he said the total dollars spent on gaming are "not something to be worried about." Gambling revenues have traditionally reflected a young population and high wages in the province, he said.


The sliding revenue is impacting Alberta community groups and charitable organizations. The government's share of the gambling dollars — which is transferred to the Alberta Lottery Fund and disbursed to groups — sank more than $100 million last year to about $1.5 billion.