Source: ABC News
A former Westpac Bank manager in Sydney has been jailed for up to eight years for taking nearly $4 million from customers’ accounts to gamble on horse racing.
Brendan Gaffney created loans in customers’ names at the bank’s Chatswood branch to transfer $3.7 million to his own account between February 2003 and January 2005. The 42-year-old used the money to unsuccessfully bet on horses. He said he used the money to place bets with people he wanted to network with to get ahead at work but they never paid him back.
Gaffney pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges and was today sentenced in the District Court to at least five years’ jail. The Crown said he used the money to support his own gambling addiction. The judge said the combination of Gaffney’s fascination for horses and the control of other people’s money was disastrous for the bank.