AN ASPIRING police
officer who brazenly snatched $125,000 worth of casino chips under the
nose of a Crown employee has told a court he was financially desperate.
Gunawan
Akay, 39, pleaded guilty to stealing 25 chips, valued at $5000 each,
from a baccarat table in the exclusive Maple Room on December 23, before
fleeing into a taxi.
The unsophisticated crime was committed in
desperation, his barrister Kristina Kothrakis told the Melbourne County
Court on Friday.
“How this could have ever worked is beyond
comprehension,” she said. The court heard Akay lost most of the chips
during his escape, none of which have been recovered.
“When he got
home he saw he had only had three chips left,” Ms Kothrakis said. “He
got home and felt absolutely sick about what he’d done, and the next day
he threw them away.”
Judge Claire Quin replied:"Twenty-two chips,
of $5000 chips, and I understand they’re reasonably large in size and
they just disappeared?” “Yes,” Ms Kothrakis said.
At the time,
Akay lacked an income and place to live. He and his girlfriend had just
been served an eviction notice due to late rent and lost an apartment in
a bad investment.
After a first visit to the casino in 2011, he
got a “false impression” he could multiply the money he obtained on
credit to pay for the apartment, Ms Kothrakis said.
In the month
before the theft, he was approached by staff to become a Crown Gold
Rewards member, giving him free parking and vouchers, which he accepted.
On the day of the theft, he argued with his girlfriend about gambling
away more money when he saw an opportunity to take a row of casino chips
to solve his problems.
“He just grabbed a handful and ran,” Ms Kothrakis said.
But his foolish plan was destined to fail, with his snatch and escape captured on CCTV.
The court heard Akay arrived in Australia in 1997 after growing up poor in a small Indonesian village.
He spent years years living with different families, where he would do chores in exchange for accommodation.
Ms Kothrakis said his crime was at the “lower end” of scale, given his guilty plea and lack of criminal history.
Akay
was ashamed and had not gambled since the day of the crime. “It’s a
situation he regretted since the moment it happened,” she said.
Prosecutor Adrian Trotman said the offending was brazen and there had been no attempt to compensate the casino.
Akay, of South Yarra, will be assessed for a Community Correction Order and sentenced on Wednesday.
