Woman played pokies as colleagues laid off

Woman played pokies as colleagues laid off - Yahoo!Xtra News

Unbelievable. I hate pokies and gambling. This just goes to show that gambling is just as destructive as any other addiction. I always used to say to myself that i would never do drugs or gamble...because i knew that if i enjoyed either of those things, that would be the end of me. I don't do things by halves, and knew how destructive those two addictions are.

Massive fail with the drugs...but i am sticking to my gambling rule.

I don't get it anyway. What is so enjoyable about sitting there pushing buttons on a machine all day? I remember once, watching Danny play black jack or something...so boring. I just don't get the appeal.

A Hastings woman stole and gambled away almost half a million dollars while her colleagues were being laid off because of the company's poor cash flow, Hastings District Court was told yesterday.

The woman, granted name suppression to protect her former employer, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft from the Hastings company, Hawke's Bay Today reported.

She was remanded to appear for sentence on February 12.

A police summary of facts said she was employed in April 2005 and her role in the company included paying staff wages, PAYE, paying creditors, banking all debtors and paying GST through the use of internet banking.

Toward the end of last year the company owner had noticed poor cash flow and blamed the shortfall on the recession. Staff were laid off and hours were cut back for those retained.

Eventually it was discovered a large amount of money was missing and police were called in.

The woman admitted she took the money to feed her gambling addiction.

It was found that between April 2007 and October 2009, the woman had made 278 transactions from the company's bank account to her own. In a bid to disguise the transactions, she inserted a creditor's name or labelled it GST or PAYE. She transferred a total of $460,832.71 into her personal account.

She told police the total amount had gone toward feeding slot machines in licensed gambling premises throughout Hawke's Bay.