Accountant Steals to Fund Online Bingo Habit
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Bingo is a fantastic game to play and a bit of a nation’s favourite in the UK but there is no doubt that sometimes people can take it a bit too far. When does it change from being some harmless fun to a serious gambling problem. This was the case for an accountant from Stockport who decided to steal thousands from her employers to fund her habit (£4,350) to be exact.
Maria Parsonage was reportedly losing £30 a day on her attempt to win a big bingo jackpot. She was put in a trusted position to pay her own wage – however the accountancy firm didn’t bargain on her helping herself to play a dash of bingo! She committed fraud a total of 5 times and it was ruled she had to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. The magistrates decided that she didn’t have enough money – therefore she didn’t have to pay the stolen cash back.
Last year was when Parsonage started working for Vital People in just May last year and committed fraud between August and December. The Mother of 2 supposedly has had an online gambling problem since 2007, however she previously funded it through high street loans. She has been attending Gambler’s Anonymous and the staff there provided her with a letter defending her to the court.
Her defence stated there was a worrying trend of increased online gambling and that it is so easy to access. He stated: f you can’t sleep in the middle of the night you can turn on your computer and lose a fortune at the click of a button. "This is an offence because of an addiction. If she can beat the addiction she won’t trouble the courts again."
Apparently her husband was completely oblivious to her gambling problem until this situation occurred – however he remains supportive. The Director of Vital People felt that it wasn’t the correct decision not to order that Parsonage pay the money back stating that it sent out the wrong message. Perhaps he is right – it’s him that’s out all the money! Jason Fox who is the Director stated:
"What really annoys me is the message being sent out is ‘don’t worry about stealing, you get away with it’. But I didn’t want her to go to jail, I don’t think it would have helped her, especially if she has a family. "We had a great relationship, she was my most trusted employee apart from my wife, Jenny, and a lovely girl. She just got herself into a mess."
It does seem awfully forgiving of the victim to say such nice things about the woman who has stolen all that money from him. It is amazing to see how far some people will go to fund a habit and I’m sure there are many more cases just like this that have yet to be uncovered. It just goes to show you folks – gamble responsibly!
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