Online bingo is a popular form of online gambling and millions of people enjoy playing the game on a regular basis. Gamblers enjoy online bingo so much that sometimes they become addicted to the game. Becoming addicted to online bingo or any online gambling game can be hazardous to a person’s life and one woman learned this the hard way.

Lucienne Mainey was recently sent to jail after she stole from her employer to fund her online bingo habit. Mainey stole over £76,000 from her employer and has now been sentenced to sixteen months in jail.

The forty one year old worked at APD Ltd as an accounts administrator and she had instant access to the company’s bank accounts. Mainey was a friend of the family that owned the company for twenty years and was a trusted employee.

Back in January 2011, the company found out that Mainey had taken £800 and placed in her account. Mainey apologized to her employer and promised it would not happen again and she repaid the money she took.

However, just two months later, Mainey was caught playing online bingo at work and was given a warning. A suspicious payment from the company made them question Mainey again and after checking their accounts, the company found that Mainey had actually stolen over £76,000.

The gambler admitted to five offences of fraud by false representation as well as twenty five other offences. The Judge Peter Fenn sent Mainey off to jail for sixteen months and said that a message must be sent out the gamblers that if they become addicted they could put themselves in the same position.


- 2012-01-13