A glitch caused four ATMs at Sydney’s Star Casino to hand out more than $3.2 million in free cash to those in the know over a two-week period.
Word quickly spread among gamblers, criminals and even the homeless that cash was being freely spent through the ‘ticket in, cash out’ machines – with 43 people taking advantage of the glut.
In total, the machines earned $3,219,420 in 13 days.
A software problem has occurred in machines that pay out tickets with barcodes showing gambling winnings.
Gamblers discovered that if they handed in more than one ticket, they would all be paid out, but only one ticket would be kept by the machine. The others were spat back, allowing them to be redeemed multiple times.
An investigation has revealed how a glitch caused four ATMs at The Star casino in Sydney to dispense free cash
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The lure of free money even caused a recovering gaming addict to relapse.
Thanh Lan Le told the Sydney Morning Herald that she was eight months removed from her destructive habit when a friend’s boyfriend showed her how the machines dispensed the money.
She spent the next ten days milking the ATMs, using them 34 times to withdraw $57,265 and then spending all but $5,000 at the casino.
“I was in a trance,” she said.
‘I’m really angry with myself. All the work I had done with my psychologist had gone out the window.”
Twice she fell asleep at slot machines and was offered a room in the casino hotel by the staff, which she accepted and paid for with the money withdrawn from the ATMs.
After the fault in the machines was discovered, Le and others who had taken advantage of the situation were reported to the police.
Le pleaded guilty to a single charge of obtaining property by deception and offered to repay the money.
The ATMs were ‘ticket in, cash out’ machines that allowed gamblers to cash in their winnings
“I understand it was my fault,” she said.
“I took it fraudulently, but the machine gave us money.”
Le’s lawyer, Natalija Nikolic of
“They have a system that seems to take little account of the licensing standard expected of them,” Nikolic said.
“They gave away $3 million without even realizing it – a system so patently lax it’s a honeypot for money launderers. In our opinion, the worst offense in this entire scenario could be laid at the feet of Star for these negligent violations.”
One of those accused of fraudulently obtaining funds, Troy Manning, is in jail awaiting trial on charges of fraud, participation in a criminal group and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Star’s special manager Nick Weeks told this week’s investigation by the NSW Independent Casino Commission said allowing these false payouts for days was ‘a very significant failure for a large number of people and teams’.
He revealed that the ATMs were out of order for six weeks, but it was only in the past two weeks that gamblers discovered this.
The investigation also found that Giovanni Rizzo, The Star’s head of investor relations, allegedly asked the chief financial officer to conceal the loss when he presented half-year results in February, but she refused.
The ATMs were out of order for six weeks, but the fault was only discovered by gamblers for two weeks before the casino also took action
Former ClubsNSW anti-money laundering compliance manager Troy Stolz, who was an expert witness, said venues operating ‘ticket in, cash out’ machines needed to keep a close eye on how they were used.
‘This also raises questions about the robustness/effectiveness of Star Casino’s AML/CTF [anti-money laundering/counterterrorism financing] program,” he said in a letter to the presiding magistrate.
Star declined to comment on the case, saying it would be inappropriate to do so as it was before the court.
