No jail time for Brendon Mark Klimeck, 32, over theft of almost $25,000 from Star Casino

A Star Gold Coast employee who defraud the business out of tens of thousands of dollars to feed his gambling addiction has been handed his punishment. Read what happened in court.

A former Star Casino boss who stole close to $25,000 from his employer over 14 months won’t spend any time behind bars after an eleventh hour pledge to pay back the money.

Brendon Mark Klimeck used his position as Assistant Operations Manager at the Broadbeach casino to falsely process 91 shifts over a 14 month period starting in June 2022.
He pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court on Monday to a single fraud charge of dishonestly obtaining benefit by an employee.

Acting Magistrate Sarah Thompson adjourned the sentence for 24 hours to consider the facts of the case after the 32-year-old’s lawyer asked for any term of imprisonment to be wholly suspended so he wouldn’t spend any actual time in custody.

“What do you say allows me to immediately suspend? It’s offending over 14 months, he’s in a position of trust. He has manipulated both the rosters and the recipient of the money, ” Magistrate Thompson said in response to the submission.

Klimeck would create fraudulent shifts in his girlfriend’s name and have payroll send the funds into a joint account he had control of. Picture: Facebook

Solicitor Dave Hadley, representing Klimeck, said his client was motivated to steal the money, worth a total of $24,817, out of “compulsion” brought about by a gambling addiction. However he was unable to provide any psychological report to validate the claim when asked by the court.

“I’ll accept it’s out of character, he comes before the court without a criminal history,” Magistrate Thompson said.
“(But) it’s fourteen months, it’s protracted, it’s sophisticated. There isn’t any offer of compensation which goes to (his) remorse.”

When the sentencing resumed on Tuesday morning, Mr Hadley informed the court Klimeck would now offer to repay the stolen money and had the funds available for immediate payment.

“I hope you understand Mr Klimeck you are at significant risk of going into actual custody,” Magistrate Thompson said during sentencing.
“It (offending) is protracted, it is sophisticated, you put another person at risk of being charged. I’m not going to send you into actual custody today.

“You have offered to pay the restitution, the court of appeal has said that offenders cannot buy their way out of jail, and it is not to be seen as that. It is to be seen and taken into account by me as an indication of your genuine remorse.”

Klimeck was sentenced to a term of 15 months imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years. A conviction was automatically recorded and he was ordered to repay the money within 60 days.

EARLIER

On Monday, Southport Magistrates Court was told Klimeck used the Casino’s admin systems to approve shifts in his girlfriend’s name. She was also an employee with Star and the transactions were done without her knowledge or consent.

“So that pay attributed to the female would be paid into a Commonwealth Bank account under the control of the defendant (Klimeck),” Senior Constable Pam Rhodes told the court.

“The total loss by Star Casino was found to be $24,817 from manually forced adjustments to the roster system and their subsequent approval for payroll.”

The fraud was discovered by administrative staff after they noticed the payments to Klimeck’s girlfriend had continued at a time when she was on unpaid leave. It triggered a formal investigation.

“Search warrants were conducted on the defendant’s bank account showing control over the money and it being utilised for a Sportsbet account,” Senior Constable Rhodes said.

The fraudulent shifts were picked up by admin staff at the casino. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“The defendant participated in an electronic record of interview with his employer and made admissions to the offence.”

The prosecution submitted that Klimeck’s offending should face a sentence of imprisonment in the range of 12 to 18 months, with him to serve at least a third of that time in actual custody for pleading guilty to the fraud offence of dishonestly obtaining benefit by an employee.

Klimeck’s solicitor Dave Hadley told the court his client is a “well educated, articulate and high performing individual” who had turned to offending out of an addiction to online gambling which he developed in 2016 following the death of his father.
“That (gambling) gave him not only a hit – a rush – an immediate benefit but, that he was successful at it,” Mr Hadley said.

“Over the period of the next three years or so he was extremely successful to the point of having millions of dollars going through his banks. He had a home that he owned outright, he had several hundred thousand dollars in the bank.”

Klimeck’s solicitor said the offending was due to an online gambling addiction.

The winning streak came to an end in 2018, according to Mr Hadley. His client began losing and was in the grip of a “well entrenched” addiction to online sports betting.

“And then he goes and gets a job at the casino?” Acting Magistrate Sarah Thompson interjected.

“You’re putting yourself in an environment surrounded by gambling on a daily basis where you’re accepting you’ve got an issue with it.”

It was conceded by Klimeck's solicitor that his employment decision at the time didn’t assist his cause.

“As an addict I would submit that makes some strange sort of sense,” Mr Hadley said.

“My client admits without reservation that his actions were unlawful, they were incorrect and he’s ashamed and remorseful.

“He’s paying the price for those (actions) and his depression and mental health continues to require attention.”

Mr Hadley said the mitigating factors of the case justified any term of imprisonment for his client being immediately suspended so he not spend any time in actual custody.