Sydney casino sacks informers

Source: The National, Tuesday 20th March 2012 SYDNEY’S Star Casino has sacked three more managers, including one who forwarded an email revealing that it allows international high rollers to gamble non-stop for more than 24 hours. The organisation brought in outside lawyers last Tuesday to help sack mid-level managers with more than 40 years’ experience among them for breaches of its internet and email policies, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald said. A leaked incident report from the casino fingered Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah for sexually harassing a male dealer and consuming too much alcohol last April. The report said Namah was asked to leave but allowed back in when management discovered he had deposited A$800,000 with the teller. Namah has denied being the person named in the report and had advised lawyers to start legal proceedings against Australian newspapers that carried the story. The casino’s actions meant at least seven staff had been dismissed or had left in the fallout surrounding last month’s sacking of managing director Sid Vaikunta. One of those dismissed had forwarded an email, dated Feb 21, from the director of VIP services, Dean Wilson, explaining why responsible gambling rules used to stop locals betting for more than 24 hours at a stretch did not apply to wealthy foreigners known as international rebate guests. Wilson told senior staff he had asked the responsible gambling manager, Ron Wagemans, to clarify the po­licy after a staff member had wrongly advised two wealthy international guests, who had been playing for 21 hours, that they would soon be asked to leave under the casino’s policy of sending gamblers home after 24 hours of non-stop wagering. “For our (international rebate) guests we are under no obligation to stop their play at the 24-hour mark,” Wilson wrote to managers in the high rollers’ section. “These guests travel with limited time to play and they have an esta­blished amount of funds that they are prepared to gamble with.” A Casino Star spokesman said yesterday the employees “were dismissed for breaching several employment policies such as sending confidential company documents to third parties and private email addresses”’, including “highly sensitive customer information”.