An Australian study into the relationship between problem gambling and
fraud provides new evidence of the size of the problem and its
devastating impact.
The ten year study by Warfield & Associates analysed over 500
criminal convictions in Australia for fraud offences where gambling was
the main motivation for the crimes.
The key findings include:
* Of the 528 persons convicted of an offence, 221 of them or 42% were
female and 307 or 58% were male.
* Of all the States and Territories, Victoria had both the most number
of gambling motivated frauds – 156, as well as the most lost to fraud
overall - $102,701,516.
* Total amount stolen was $269,239,278 over the ten year period.
* The youngest person convicted was 15 and the oldest was 84 years old.
* The lowest amount recorded as being $127 and the highest was
$22,447,500.
* The ten largest frauds contributed $103.8 million to the losses. Nine
of the perpetrators were male and one was female.
* There were 55 cases where fraud exceeded $1 million. Of these, 16 were
female and 39 male.
* Men stole an average $671,000 to gamble compared to $286,000 by women.
* 1/3 of all frauds were for amounts less than $50,000.
* Employees were responsible for 2/3 of all fraud perpetrated by problem
gamblers and they averaged more than $570,000 in each case.
* Of the frauds committed by employees, the longest period the fraud
went undetected was for an extraordinary nine years and two months
involving more than $4 million.
* Seven of the eight longest periods that fraud was perpetrated were by
recipients of welfare from the Federal Government.
* The longest sentence given was a head sentence of 14 years with a non
parole period of nine years and six months.
* Poker machines were by far the most nominated mode of gambling by the
offenders.
* Of the 202 cases where poker machines were identified as the main mode
of gambling, 64% were female.
* The average loss to fraud where the person was solely addicted to
poker machines was $350,148.
* Problem gamblers’ estimations of the amounts they stole were
consistently underestimated.
* Pre-employment screening would have failed to identify problems with
the overwhelming majority of perpetrators as they had no history of
dishonesty prior to committing the frauds.
* At least five murders were the result of gambling addicted fraudsters
trying to cover their frauds.
* There were high levels of depression reported amongst many of the
perpetrators.
* However, based on the many comments throughout the research, the most
difficult part is for the person with the gambling problem to actually
recognise they have a problem and seek help.
“The impact of some of the frauds was devastating”, stated Brett
Warfield, the reports author.
“At least five murders were the result of gambling addicted fraudsters
trying to cover their frauds and there were many cases of people in very
vulnerable positions having their life savings stolen.”
“The addiction to poker machines, by far the most prevalent form of
gambling, contributed average losses of $350,000 in each case.’ He said.
“The impact on employers was not surprising with 2.3 of all frauds being
perpetrated by an employee, costing on average more than $˝ million.
“Although the large value frauds are often well publicised, 1/3 of all
frauds were for less than $50,000. This was where the most personal
impacts were felt” Warfield & Associates is a professional services firm
that specialises in Forensic Accounting and the prevention, detection
and investigation of unethical behaviour, including fraud and
corruption.
Please refer to the website link when referencing the report. Please
feel free to quote from the report as necessary.
Further information regarding this report including questions or
comments Brett Warfield Chief Executive Warfield & Associates 02 9231
7588 or 0419 418887
Therese McGarry – 0423 773492