A salesman for Lookers has been jailed for 12 months after defrauding a car dealership out of almost £40,000 to fund his gambling addiction.
Robin Campbell (38), of Hillhall Park, Lisburn, pleaded guilty to fraud by abusing his position in the Charles Hurst Group (part of the AM10 dealer group), reports the Belfast Telegraph.
Prosecution lawyer Joseph Murphy told Belfast Crown Court that Campbell had been taking deposits from Motability customers “when no desposits were required".
The Motability scheme enables disabled people to lease a new car in exchange for their government-funded mobility allowance.
Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland heard that Campbell was employed in Charles Hurst’s Citroen Motability section. He was told the fraud had been carried out for around a year up until November 2013 before it was detected.
Murphy said an internal audit revealed that around 48 customers had paid deposits totalling £37,751 which have should have gone to his employers.
“He told his manager about the fraud and said he had gambled the money and had no means to repay it,'' said Murphy.
However, he added that “what led to his confession is that he was aware that an audit was being carried out. He knew he would be found out and that is what prompted him to confess.''
The lawyer said Campbell would take deposits from customers involving sums ranging from £200 to £2,000.
“This defendant would insist on early deposits and in the main he would ask for cash deposits.
“He would then take these monies for his own personal use," said Murphy.
The Belfast Recorder heard that Campbell was later arrested and interviewed by police following the internal company audit. He told police that he confessed to a close friend in August 2013 about his fraudulent activity and was advised to tell his employers.
Defence barrister Kelly Doherty said that the father-of-three had turned to abusing alcohol following the breakdown of his marriage and then had used his customer's cash deposits to fund his gambling addiction.
Campbell was sentenced to 12 months with half to be spent in custody and the remainder on licence following his release from prison.
I LIKE a flutter on the gee-gees as much as the next man. I attend a couple of race meets a year and usually stick a pin on a horse for the Grand National.
Every week I spend a few euro on the National Lottery. I might also buy a scratch card from time to time.
That said, I'm nowhere near being a gambling man. It's just a bit of harmless fun for me, as it is for most people.
But there is a darker, more sinister and destructive side to this activity that is anything but harmless or funny.
That is, of course, when gambling becomes an addiction.
It was reported this week that approximately 100,000 Irish people suffer from a gambling addiction.
Equally shocking is the proportion of these people who gamble online. The vast majority of online gamblers are under 25 and start their habit on a smartphone.
Logic dictates that many of these addicts must be in their teens.
Two of the countries top addiction centres, Aiseiri and Cuan Mhuire, have seen a 20pc increase year on year in the numbers seeking treatment for gambling addiction.
Online and youth gambling is clearly driving these increases. And handheld devices are making it so much easier to slip into addiction.
Many people gamble online 24/7, in the privacy of their own homes, on smartphones and tablets, sinking deeper into debt. By the time they hit rock bottom and seek help for their addiction, they have already lost their job, their home and their family. Some turn to theft or even self-harm.
Witness the case of the An Post manager Tony O'Reilly, who stole €1.7m from postal accounts in 2011 because of a gambling addiction.
Even more tragic is the recent case of Tyrone footballer Cathal McCarron.
Battling serious gambling, he left Ireland for London. He was in the headlines recently after it emerged that he made a gay porn video to pay off the relatively small sum of €2,000.
McCarron's not the only young GAA player who has battled gambling addiction. Armagh player Oisin McConville admitted a few years back that his habit had led to debts of €120,000.
And there are many, many more cases of young men in serious debt.
Gambling, particularly the online form, is an insidious Pandora's box which, when opened, can be very difficult to close.
It preys on the weakness and frailty of human nature, something that is present to some extent in all of us.
It appears that Ireland is now in the throes of an online gambling epidemic. Much of it is hidden – for now – but the tragic effects will eventually emerge.
What can be done to combat this growing social and health problem?
Is it time for the Government to strictly regulate gambling ads like they've done with other products in the past?
Wives beg bookies: Give back our husbands' squandered cash
Betting causing families to miss car and home repayments
Roulette table
Bookies are being swamped with heartbreaking emails from women begging for them to refund money their gambling partners have squandered.
The unprecedented situation has become worse in the past year as cash-strapped families struggle to put food on the table.
And with nowhere else to turn, the desperate wives of gambling addicts have started emailing bookmakers’ head offices begging for their money back.
Many of these women – often on the brink of a breakdown – have been pouring out their hearts in emotional emails claiming they’ve been left with nothing because of their husband or partner’s secret gambling.
One woman who contacted the Irish Daily Mirror said she was left devastated after realising her husband had “lost everything” – and emailed a leading bookie to beg for the money back.
She revealed: “I didn’t know it had become so bad, then I realise we couldn’t make the mortgage or car payment and I didn’t know where to turn.
“It’s not the bookie’s fault but I was desperate, I was angry and out of desperation I just sent an email pleading for the money back.”
Heartbreaking pleas from women have included stories about husbands taking their children’s Holy Communion and birthday money, gambling away the family holiday fund and squandering so much money that they can’t afford to put food on the table or petrol in the car.
And the most disturbing aspect of the crippling addiction is that gamblers can keep their problem secret until it’s too late.
Fiona Weldon, clinical director of the Dublin-based rehab charity the Rutland Centre previously said:
“Like any addiction, it’s a chronic and relapsing condition with no known cure.
"It’s very challenging for anyone coming out of recovery, because they need to take measures like disabling the internet on their phone.
“It is also an addiction that people can hide for longer periods, even years. But when it is found out, it usually all blows up and can destroy a family unit. In the worst cases, a family home may need to be sold to pay for all the gambling debts.”
With many Irish people facing unprecedented debt because of relentless tax hikes, benefits reductions and rising unemployment, terrifying stories have emerged of gambling addicts running up debts as high as €500,000.
The problem is fuelled by more and more of us looking for a quick-fix to our financial woes – but the situation spirals out of control when gamblers get addicted trying to win back their losses.
According to the latest statistics, there are some 40,000 gambling addicts in Ireland.
But frighteningly less than 1 per cent of those who need help actually receive it.
It’s estimated that we gamble more than €5 billion a year, the equivalent of €10,000 a minute.
Just last month it was revealed that a third of all top GAA players who seek counselling are troubled by gambling problems.
Senior Gaelic Players’ Association official Sean Potts said: “We’ve had 100 inter-county players go through our counselling service and a third of them are gambling related.
“It is worrying and we believe, like in anything, it is about education and getting to them before problems arise.”
Armagh’s 2002 All-Ireland winning hero Oisin McConville previously opened up about his chronic gambling addiction that saw him rack up €100,000 debts.
And while gambling addiction was traditionally a male-dominated illness, more and more Irish women are falling victim to the epidemic.
And the surge in popularity of online betting is being blamed for the frightening
Gambling addict who stole from 'angel' pair avoids jail Declan Brennan– 18 June 2013
A GAMBLING addict has avoided a jail term for conning a couple by convincing them that racehorse owner JP McManus would finance their "angel sanctuary" business.
Andrew Duff told the couple he was a high-profile businessman with "serious connections" to JP McManus, Denis O'Brien and the directors of Setanta. He later stole €17,000 from them.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Lorraine Coffey and Eugene O'Connor wanted help in expanding their business from a shop in France, where they now live.
The company, Lorries Angels, sells spiritual items around the idea of angels.
Duff (46), of Kilpatrick, Kyle, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty to theft from the couple at AIB Dun Laoghaire on February 16, 2011.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring described it as "a particularly nasty crime because of the breaches of trust involved" and sentenced Duff to three years in prison.
TOKEN
But the sentence was suspended in full on strict conditions, including that he hand over €5,500, which he had in court as a token of his remorse, to the couple.
Gda Donal O'Sullivan told the court the couple planned to run the company on a not-for-profit basis and agreed to take Duff on as an unpaid financial adviser for a year.
The garda said the accused claimed he sent a business plan to Mr McManus. He also claimed to have set up a meeting between the couple and the millionaire, which was later cancelled.
The court was told that Mr McManus later told gardai that he didn't know Mr Duff and had never sent him an email to cancel the meeting.
Duff also told the couple they would have to transfer €15,000 to his account, which they did in February 2011.
He told them they had to register an employee in Ireland. He later billed them for €2,593 which he said had to be paid in employer's contribution taxes.
When this employee looked for his P45 from the Revenue Commissioners, it emerged that Duff had not paid these taxes and the gardai were called in.
Duff was in the middle of a gambling addiction course when gardai arrested him. Gardai found that the €15,000 had been gradually spent over 34 transactions with Paddy Power bookmakers' online betting site.
Orla Crowe, defending, said her client felt profound remorse and shame over his actions and wanted to apologise.
Gambling addict conned 'angel' couple out of €27k Declan Brennan– 09 April 2013
A GAMBLING addict conned more than €27,500 from a couple by convincing them that racehorse owner JP McManus would finance their angel business.
Andrew Duff told the couple that he was a high-profile business man with "serious connections" to JP McManus, Denis O'Brien and the directors of Setanta.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Lorraine Coffey and Eugene O'Connor wanted help in expanding their business Lorries Angels, which sells spiritual items around the idea of angels from a shop in France where they live.
Duff (46), of Kilpatrick, Kyle, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty to theft from the couple at AIB, Dun Laoghaire on February 16, 2011.
Garda Donal O'Sullivan told Tara Burns, prosecuting, that the couple had planned to run the company on a not-for-profit basis and agreed to take Duff on as an unpaid financial adviser for a year.
Gda O'Sullivan said they had 100pc trust in Duff who told them he hoped to get JP McManus involved. He said he drew up a business plan and sent it to Mr McManus.
He claimed to have set up a meeting between the couple and the millionaire but at the last minute showed them an email purporting to be from Mr McManus in which he cancelled the meeting.
Bookmakers
The court heard that Mr McManus later told gardai he didn't know the accused and had not sent the email.
At one stage Duff told the couple they would have to transfer €25,000 in funds to his account, which they did in February 2011.
He told them they had to register an employee in Ireland. He later billed them for €2,593 which he said had to be paid in employer's contribution taxes.
When this employee looked for his P45 from the Revenue Commissioners, it emerged that Duff had not paid these taxes and gardai were called in.
Duff was being treated for gambling addiction when gardai arrested him.
He told them he was unable to distinguish truth from lies and so he couldn't actually say what he had done.
Gardai found that the €25,000 had been gradually spent over 34 transactions with Paddy Power bookmakers' online betting site.
The court heard that the father of three has no previous convictions. He previously had a long and successful business career but this is now in ruins because of his crime.
Orla Crowe, defending, said her client felt remorse and shame over his actions and wanted to apologise. She said he had brought €1,080 to court.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring said she was concerned that the Revenue Commissioners may still seek money from the victims in relation to their unpaid taxes and wanted to clarify this. She adjourned sentencing until June next.
In 1951, FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover boldly declared that “gambling is a vicious evil; it corrupts our youth and blights the lives of adults.” While I personally wouldn’t go that extreme, it would be an oversight to consider his words foolish. While gambling may or may not be a root of evil, it is certainly a root of many problems, and no more so than in Ireland.
Gambling with the Devil.
Ireland is a nation of gamblers. A recent RTÉ documentary, ‘The Gambling Gene’, put forward a theory that Ireland has always been a country of people who like to bet. We love risks, we crave bragging rights over peers and we all enjoy a story of someone who succeeds without having to do much work. It’s not that we’re lazy, we’re just instilled with a desire to beat the system. We’ve all heard the anecdotal story of the man who won a ten-match football bet, with a wonder strike in the last minute, and sailed into the sunset. Similarly, we recall the stories of the people who lose, and lose big, on speculations and sure things alike.
The issue here is that, nowadays, many young people are getting wrapped up in betting. Too often those tales of woe are espoused by a friend or colleague on campus. Budgeting for student life in a recession can be a tough enough task without diminishing your resources on flutters. The cause of the spike in youth betting is easily identifiable as modern technological marketing.
Fifty years ago organised gambling was considered dodgy and illegitimate. These days going into a bookmaker is as banal and normal as going to the corner-shop. But for our young, computer-engrossed generation, betting has become so much simpler. Online gambling is the ultimate experience in convenience risk-taking. Through Facebook ads, sponsored Google results and popup links on all of your favourite websites, the modern gambling firm has targeted the young, tech-savvy male, and offered him a link to perceived wealth. Journalist and author of ‘Free Money’, Declan Lynch, has concisely claimed that “in history, there has never been the invention of a technology which has so suited an addiction.”
The truth of the matter is that for many people out there, bookmakers have a direct line to a punter’s pocket, literally and figuratively. Paddy Power is Ireland’s largest bookmaker, and one of our largest PLCs. With a reported profit of nearly €140 million in 2011, just under 10% was generated through online means. This figure is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. The simplicity of the whole process is staggering. Sign up for an account, which is often accompanied by a joining gift of a free bet, and you now have access to any gambling market you want. Paddy Power have followed a successful ethos of, ‘if you can talk about it, you can bet on it’. A soccer match between two unpronounceable teams in Georgia, the next president of Venezuela, the closing price of commodities on Wall Street, the winner of the next horse race, the winner of the next virtual horse race, all at your fingertips, whether you want them or not. What started as a reasonably innocuous attempt to predict the first scorer in the 5:30 kickoff has now turned into binge betting on the Best Sound Editing at the Oscars.
While it’s hard to blame any bookmaker for seeking to improve their own bottom line, the fact is that their benefit is coming at the expense of many of Ireland’s youths. Gambling is an addiction. It’s as plain as that. We don’t have to look far into the back pages of any leading newspaper to find a story of a sportsperson with a troubled gambling history. Take Armagh Gaelic Footballer Oisin McConville, who began gambling aged fourteen. At one stage he claims to have had three unpaid car loans, but only one car. Or English footballer Michael Chopra, who has been blighted for the last ten years by unresolved wagers and implications of betting fraud.
Dr. Fiona Weldon of the Rutland Rehabilitation Centre notes that there has been a notable increase in young males reporting to their clinics with gambling addictions. The trend seems to be an uptake in gambling as a hobby from a frighteningly young age. Through internet exposure, patients at the centre can arrive in their early twenties and have already worked up volumes of debt, far beyond their humble years. Even more worrying is the fact that in these dark days of austerity, they are presenting debts which are larger than ever. Proportionally speaking, this could present an unprecedented disaster for the future of the Irish societal situation.
Despite what you have just read, I’m not vehemently anti-gambling. I see no harm in going to the races with your friends and throwing a few quid on an outsider, or backing a few teams on the weekend to make it more interesting viewing. Gambling responsibly does have the ability to add value. It is an extra thrill. When you comfortably have the means to do it, can enjoy doing it, and can walk away from a tipple without the need to redouble your effort, win or lose, then it can be an entertaining pastime.
The flipside is that it has a calculated power to destroy. If you gamble purely for the money, you can’t beat the system. Gambling addiction is on the rise, and this is definitely the case among younger people. Accessibility is the driving motivation and there is no mitigating factor against this exposure.
Many young people now have a dangerous relationship with betting. The last word on the matter is the clearest truth of all when it comes to gambling and gambling addiction; the law of averages is basic statistics, and it lies in the bookies’ favour.
You can’t beat it. If you could, they would have been out of business years ago.
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