A gaming manager at The Star was sacked and banned from the casino for borrowing cash from her employees to fund her gambling habit.
The Casino Special Employee, Minh Nguyen, used her position as an assistant gaming manager to borrow thousands from her staff, some of which was not paid back.
Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority Chairman Phillip Crawford said it was a matter of integrity when an employee abuses a position where reputation and character is essential.
“The Authority revoked Ms Nguyen’s licence to prevent her and others from further gambling-related harms,” Mr Crawford said.
“The repeated nature of the contraventions indicates a lack of honesty and considerable lack of diligence or ability with respect to regulatory compliance.”
In 2020 and 2021 Ms Nguyen borrowed more than $7000 from staff under her management.
In one scenario she cut an employee’s shift short and offered to give him a lift home. During the ride home Ms Nguyen began speaking about her family issues and asked to borrow $1000. She stopped her car at an ATM so the employee could extract the cash. After several months and multiple attempts to get the money back, Ms Nguyen finally agreed to meet at a petrol station to repay the loan.
In another example, Ms Nguyen requested $3000 from an employee and said it would be returned in two months. The employee loaned her $2000 but only $1000 was repaid five months later. Repeated attempts to contact Ms Nguyen were met with unanswered calls and disconnected phone numbers.
Employees were reported as saying they did not want to say no to their manager and were also scared to talk about it with her or others.
Ms Nguyen stated she did not feel she used her power as a manager to influence staff members to loan her money.
Casino special employees are licensed to undertake certain positions within a casino, involving supervision of gaming tables, equipment, security, and the ability to hold management positions.
The licence requires a high level of integrity, honest conduct, and adherence to the Casino Control Act.
“This decision will help protect the industry, the community and Ms Ngyuen herself, by mitigating the risks of any future incident because of her personal gambling addiction, Mr Crawford said.”
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