Revealed: Geelong’s problem gamblers who turned to crime
From stealing money from workplaces and swindling Tinder dates to breaking into schools and forging documents, the Geelong Advertiser lifts the lid on how gambling fuels local crime. SEE THE LIST.
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Around two in five Australian adults gamble every week, whether it’s sitting down at a pokie machine, having a punt on a horse, or placing a multi on the footy with mates.
Gambling is prevalent in society, and can form a dangerous cocktail when mixed with more illicit activities.
According to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Greater Geelong residents pour $367,486 a day into pokie machines, not to mention the bets placed online and through mobile betting apps.
More money is spent on pokies in Geelong each day than the totals of Ballarat and Bendigo combined.
Gambling has long been associated with crime, from the era of underground casinos or illicit bookmaking, and even today crooks use pokie machines to launder their ill-gotten gains.
Gambling harm is not limited to those with a gambling problem, according to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, for every Victorian who is harmed by their own gambling, up to six others are negatively affected.
There is no typical problem gambler, with gambling addictions affecting those from all walks of life and different social backgrounds.
Crimes committed by gamblers likewise range in seriousness, from petty thefts to serious fraud and assault.
A spokesperson for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation said that gambling-related crimes were typically nonviolent, financial crimes such as theft or other types of fraud.
“These crimes tend to be committed by people experiencing gambling-related harm to enable them to continue to gamble or repay gambling-related loans,” the spokesperson said.
“Coerced offences, such as prostitution and drug dealing, frequently relate to debt repayment and may be imposed by money lenders.”
However, gambling can be a factor in violent crimes as well, and its impact may even be under-represented or go unreported as a contributing factor.
“It is not uncommon for domestic violence to arise from, or in the context of, gambling,” the VRGF spokesperson said.
“There is a very high prevalence in female prisons of women who have been convicted of crimes linked to the gambling debts of a male partner.”
Moreover, gambling can have an escapist quality to it.
“A person experiencing family violence may seek respite from the violence in a gambling venue and go on to develop an issue that leads to crime, or they may assume the gambling debts or offences of the person who commits the violence,” the spokesperson said.
“Conversely, a person already experiencing gambling harm, unable to regulate their emotions and behaviour, might use violence on a family member as a consequence.”
According to the foundation, many of those who commit a crime to fund their gambling have never before been charged with an offence, while other offenders may have external factors that drive their gambling, such as poor mental health, drugs or alcohol, or an unstable home situation.
But there are effective ways prevent gambling harm from resulting in criminal activity, according to the VRGF, including diversionary treatment programs that address the gambling and other issues, as well as changing the way the justice system deals with offenders.
“Since 2016, work has been ongoing to provide information and education programs to the legal sector, including new graduates, magistrates and government agencies, to address this issue,” the spokesperson said.
Here are some cases from the region over the past two years where gambling has been cited in court.
Shane Huici
While most on this list committed nonviolent crimes, Shane Huici is an exception.
Huici broke into a nursing home and attempted to rape an elderly resident in the early hours of August 15, 2021.
In May, he was convicted and jailed for nine years, with a non-parole period of six years, minus 1004 days of pre-sentence detention.
In sentencing Huici, judge Pardeep Tiwana noted Huici’s gambling disorder
Huici began gambling at age 11, and his habit “increased over time in order to relieve your boredom and loneliness”.
Huici gambled on poker machines and online sports betting, and would sometimes gamble away his entire pay packet.
Judge Tiwana concluded Huici’s gambling “provided a solitary source of recreational activity that is not reliant on social engagement” and found Huici’s insight into his gambling and drug use was “very limited”.
Huici would steal to feed his addiction, and Huici claimed broke into the nursing home with this in mind.
However, Judge Tiwana said Huici had failed to acknowledge his offending “in an open and candid manner”.
Dallas Riccardi
Entrusted with carrying moneybags from his work at AMX Superstore to the bank, Geelong man Dallas Riccardi instead stole it.
Riccardi pleaded guilty in March in Geelong Magistrates Court the theft of three moneybags, totalling more than $4200, on November 20 last year.
Confronted about the missing cash, Riccardi told his store manager he had deposited it and had the receipts in his car.
He later admitted to stealing it, and the court heard he had a gambling problem and had accrued significant debts at the pokies.
Magistrate Franz Holzer told Riccardi he was a “thief” who needed to take responsibility for his actions.
“It is your mess, you need to clean up your own mess,” Mr Holzer said in March.
Riccardi was convicted and sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of unpaid community work.
He was also ordered to repay the money he stole.
Christian Marshman
Christian Marshman funnelled $64,000 into personal bank accounts to fund his “out of control” gambling lifestyle, a court heard last year.
The former Transport Accident Commission (TAC) worker appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court in October, and pleaded guilty to more than 40 deception charges stemming from the offending.
The court heard between December 30, 2021 and November 21, 2022, Marshman manipulated payments from former clients of the TAC, diverting them into his own bank accounts.
Marshman, who has since moved to the Wimmera, lost his job after the TAC discovered the suspicious transactions.
Marshman’s lawyer told the court his client had been “groomed” by a betting agency, and had poor impulse control.
The gambling addict would spend his wages, as well as the money he stole, on gambling.
However, Marshman avoided a jail sentence, with magistrate Franz Holzer instead opting to convict Marshman and place him on a community corrections order (CCO).
Christopher Alan Collins
Posing as a professional gambler, Christopher Alan Collins fleeced tens of thousands of dollars from women he met using dating apps Tinder and Bumble.
Collins, who was a member of sporting clubs in Anakie and Little River, stole more than $100k from three women to feed his “severe and persistent gambling disorder” in 2020.
The former VFL footballer pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including obtaining property by deception and multiple accounts of both theft and obtaining financial advantage by deception.
He was sentenced in September 2022 to an effective sentence of 669 days behind bars with 326 days reckoned as time served.
In November, he had his non-parole period reduced by three months on appeal.
Melbourne Magistrates Court heard he would move thousands of dollars from the women’s phones to betting accounts.
Collins held one woman’s phone to her face to unlock it while she was asleep, before stealing $13,000.
He stole $72,000 from another woman while she was on the dancefloor at a club, and $8500 from another victim while she went to the bathroom.
A repeat offender, Collins was earlier jailed in 2018 for fleecing six victims out of $80,000.
Christopher Burr
Corio man Christopher Burr stole a taxi when its driver wouldn’t take him home to get more gambling money.
Burr had some wins at the Gateway Hotel when he placed a reserve on a machine so he could rush home and get more money.
His lawyer told a court Burr was having “a good run on the poker machine” and was in a rush to get more cash.
He told a taxi driver he had 10 minutes to spare or he would lose the machine, during an argument in the taxi in front of the hotel around payment.
The diver tried to convince Burr to leave the car.
But when the driver got out to pull Burr out, Burr jumped into the driver’s seat and fled.
Burr pleaded guilty in December 2022 to stealing the car and damaging property, and was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in prison, minus 42 days he’d already spent in custody.
Brady Gwynn
The lawyer for a Geelong man who stole more than $46,000 from his workplace told a court the man had a gambling problem.
Brady Gwynn pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court in June last year to obtaining property by deception and falsifying documents.
The court heard that Gwynn felt “undervalued, underpaid, and overworked” when he began funnelling customers’ payments into his own pocket, swindling more than $46,000 before he was caught in October 2021.
The court was told Gwynn faked documents by using a computer invoice program and added his own bank account details instead of the company’s.
Magistrate John Bentley convicted Gwynn and sentenced him to a 15-month CCO, including 200 hours of community work.
Gwynn was also ordered to pay back the $46,000 to his former employers.
Klementina Alimic
Geelong woman Klementina Alimic swindled $13,000 from Medicare to fuel a drug and gambling habit.
In June 2022, Alimic appeared in Victorian County Court, avoiding both jail time and a conviction after pleading guilty to producing false documents and obtaining financial advantage by deception after filing five false Medicare claims in January 2017.
Judge Sarah Leighfield told the court Alimic had owned up to the scam, which was “indicative of genuine remorse and a willingness to facilitate the course of justice”.
At the time of the offending, Alimic was using a gram of cocaine per day, and had racked up a $10,000 debt.
Judge Leighfield sentenced Alimic to a good behaviour bond and told the court Alimic had remained “drug-free, and overcome (her) difficulties with gambling” between her release from custody and sentencing.
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Louis Beale
A young man hoping to study law was caught stealing money from players’ cricket bags to feed his gambling addition.
Louis Beale pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates Court in July last year to seven counts of theft and one count of attempted theft.
The court heard that on January 28, February 18, February 13 and March 4, 2023, Beale pilfered players’ sports bags at numerous clubs across Geelong.
Beale would enter club change rooms and rummage through people’s bags to steal cash, the court heard.
In all, Beale stole $1149, which his lawyer told the court was to fuel Beale’s “severe gambling addiction”.
On March 11 last year, Beale was caught looking through bags at a cricket club in Melbourne.
Beale escaped conviction for the matter after being placed on a diversion program by the court.
A diversion program is a way for first-time offenders to avoid a criminal record.
Emma Dedini and Nikola Smiljanic
Geelong couple Emma Dedini and Nikola Smiljanic had gambled away their last $20 on the pokies the evening they broke into a Geelong primary school to steal copper wire on January 19 this year.
The couple, who appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court in April, planned to sell the wire for cash.
Dedini and Smiljanic pleaded guilty to charges including burglary, theft and criminal damage.
Magistrate Franz Holzer convicted the couple, and sentenced them to CCOs, including 50 hours each of unpaid community work.
Mr Holzer said he hoped the sentence would dissuade Dedini and Smiljanic, and others, from similar offending.
“This happens far too often … these are offences against the community,” Mr Holzer said.
If you are experiencing gambling harm for free and confidential support call Meli on 5226 8900 or Gamblers Help on 1800 858 858 (Gambler’s Help Youthline: 1800 262 376).
Lifeline crisis support is available 24/7 on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
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