Barbara Babic and Steven Cachia front court over fake robbery

A greedy gaming manager played the role of victim on camera while a mate of her lover helped himself to $320k in an elaborate “staged” robbery at a Melbourne hotel.

Lovers Barbara Babic and Steven Cachia have been jailed for conspiring with a friend to steal $320,000 from the Golden Fleece Hotel in Melton.

A crooked gaming manager and her lover who hatched a plan with a friend to steal $320,000 from a bistro and gambling venue in Melbourne’s west used some of the stolen loot to give her teeth a major cut and polish.

Barbara Babic and Steven Cachia denied any involvement in the joint criminal enterprise but a jury convicted them in April for the heist at the Golden Fleece Hotel in Melton in the early hours of October 12, 2023.

Babic, who was the gaming supervisor, will serve at least three years’ jail and Cachia three years and three months before being eligible for parole.

The “fake robber” Andrew Cini, whose priors spanned 32 pages, was sentenced in July 2023 to a minimum of three years and eight months for his role, in which he was expected to receive a $50,000 cut from the stolen loot.

Judge Michael O’Connell said Cachia helped Cini gain entry to the hotel after hours while Babic used her inside knowledge of the premises to plan the “armed robbery” by posing as the “victim”.

The Golden Fleece Hotel on High St, Melton where the staged robbery took place.

Babic withdrew a large amount of $10 notes prior to the heist, put the money on a bench against company policy, and told a security officer to finish work early.

Cini hid in an alcove outside the hotel for about 10 minutes before he received a call from Cachia to enter the hotel.

Armed with a taser, Cini entered the hotel and Babic helped him put the money in a bag before he tied her hands with cable ties and left with the loot.

Babic freed herself and pressed a red alarm button. The cable ties were not broken but had been “slipped off”.

Police discovered a diary at Cini’s house about three weeks later that had information about the hotel and the armed robbery.

A map of the hotel and handwritten notes of instructions on how to commit the staged armed robbery were later found at Cachia’s Strathtulloh home.

Just over $25,000 of the stolen money was recovered, with Babic spending $10,000 on her teeth, a bed, and a TV.

“You must have understood that the hotel dealt with hundreds of thousands of dollars at the time of each cash clearance, and the potential reward for this offending was therefore, very great,” Judge O’Connell said.

Barbara Babic and her lover Steven Cachia were found guilty of the aggravated burglary of Golden Fleece Hotel and the theft of $320,000.

He said Babic had to subvert cash collection procedures to ensure cash was readily available to be placed in Cini’s bag, and that she had to play the role of victim on camera.

“Yours was a striking breach of trust.”

The judge said in the event of an innocent person intervening, there was always a potential for harm given that Cini was armed with a taser.

Babic and Cachia were sentenced to a maximum term of five years and six months’ imprisonment.