An alarming case of casino family fraud has come to light in Southend, where four members of the same family are up in court on charges of defrauding the Rendezvous casino, where one of them worked. Twenty five year old Bo Bond was a receptionist at the venue when she decided to rope in members of her family to get some money out of the place, and admitted in court that she got “greedy” when abusing her position at the casino.
She would log on to the computers used by other employees in order to take advantage of the loyalty scheme run by the casino. She would use this casino bonus system to send points off from certain accounts to those used by her relatives, which would allow them to buy food with the points instead of having to use money, as well as exchanging them for other things: the points can also be – and were – exchanged for goods with a higher value, such as televisions and iPods.
The fraud was exposed when an audit was run on the casino, and using CCTV to show that she was using the computers at the times that the transfers were made Bo was caught red handed, managing to steal a total of £8,500 prior to that point. She appeared in court this week alongside her sister Polliana Bond, her father Brian Bond, and her mother Bunty O’Sullivan, all of whom benefited from the scheme. Her stepmother Pamela Shepherd also appeared, but charges against her were dropped. Bo pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by an employee, while the other three all pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation each. Bo and Brian are due to be sentenced in March, but Bunty has received a two year conditional discharge because of her lesser part in the scheme. Twenty nine year old Polliana also received the same discharge along with a £200 fine that she was to pay as compensation. It seems as though Bo and Brian are considered to have a bigger role in the fraud and so their sentences may be more heavy.