Gambling bank clerk jailed | IXGAMES
SYDNEY’S Star City Casino irresponsibly granted high-roller status to a pathological gambler who lost $8 million in stolen money, a judge said today. Former Commonwealth Bank employee Erick Tjandra, 32, was jailed for a minimum three years on 37 counts of defrauding the bank. Over a 15-month period Tjandra stole $10.4 million from the bank, $8 million of which he “poured down the throat of the casino”, District Court Judge Christopher Armitage said today. The casino had allowed the bank clerk to play in the high-rollers room alone against the house, Judge Armitage said. ”(It was) the height of irresponsibility for the casino to have placed such a vulnerable person in the situation of gambling in what is called the Kerry Packer Room, against the house,” he said. “He was not Kerry Packer, he is not … an Asian prince. “He is a humble bank clerk who unfortunately developed a gambling addiction beyond his means.” 
Tjandra was sentenced to five years’ jail with a non-parole period of three years. He will be eligible for release in October 2009.
