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NEWS RELEASE
GAMBLING ADDICTION IS BECOMING AN INCREASING PROBLEM
Published reports document a growing incidence of crimes
that involve gambling addiction across the country
MURRIETA, Calif., June 2, 2006 ― Paul Del Vacchio, the former controller of Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., made headlines for allegedly embezzling nearly half a million dollars to pay his online gambling debts. But his case is by no means unique.
In the past four months alone, at least eight people in eight states have prosecuted or sentenced to prison or probation for embezzling or otherwise stealing funds from their employers or their clients to cover their gambling debts, according to published reports. They include:
Ana Limbaring, a former employee of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after allegedly embezzling $1.85 million to cover her gambling debts at Pechanga Resort & Casino. (Sources: Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press)
Majid Aziz, an insurance broker from Indianapolis, Ind., was sentenced to three years in prison after taking $475,000 from elderly investors to cover his gambling debts. (Source: The Associated Press)
Charles Wistuba, Jr. of Newton, N.J. was sentenced to five years in New Jersey state prison after embezzling more than $400,000 in Jersey Power & Lift funds to cover his gambling debts. (Source: The Allentown Morning Call)
Linda Price Williams, a county clerk from McAlester, Okla., allegedly embezzled about $13,800 to cover her gambling debts. (Source: The Associated Press)
Deborah O’Brien, who served on the DuPage County Regional Board of School Trustees in Illinois, allegedly embezzled more than $500,000 to cover her gambling debts. (Source: Chicago Tribune)
Rebecca Brant of Marshfield, a former president of Local 717 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Wisconsin, admitted to embezzling more than $17,000 to cover her gambling debts. (Source: Marshfield News-Herald)
Eric Barros, a former Las Vegas narcotics detective, was sentenced to three years of probation in connection with several charges after admitting he had a gambling addiction. (Source: The Las Vegas Review-Journal)
“Gambling addiction is becoming more common because there are a lot more casinos and a lot more online gambling websites than there were a few years ago,” said Jerrod Menz, president and CEO of A Better Tomorrow, a Murrieta, Calif.-based drug and alcohol treatment clinic that launched a new treatment program for problem gamblers last year.
A Better Tomorrow’s clients include Del Vacchio, the former controller of Pechanga Resort & Casino, who also participates in Gamblers Anonymous meetings as part of his rehabilitation. “It’s not Paul Del Vacchios of the world, but the common people where we hope to make our biggest impact,” Menz said.
For more information about A Better Tomorrow or about the incidence of problem gambling across the country, please contact Jerrod Menz at (800) 757-9867 or visit the company’s website at www.treatment4gambling.com.
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