Gambling bank clerk jailed
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.
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