Bank Teller Scams Customers for Gambling Needs

New Zealand is known to be strict on their gambling laws, whether targeted at online casinos, or land ones. We’ve talked about the regulatory changes in New Zealand’s online gambling world, but there are also plenty of strict laws regarding all aspects of gambling to help protect Zealanders. However, no amount of regulation can stop gambling addictions altogether.

Gambling addiction is a bottomless pit that has the potential to destroy lives and wreck homes should one choose to tread that path. In a story that is as tragic as it is shocking, a woman who worked as a teller in a New Zealand bank is facing multiple charges of theft to support her gambling habit.

The person in question is 28-year-old Carine Gwen Tamayo Tumapang, a former teller at TSB Bank based in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Her crime: stealing close to NZ$28,000 (approximately $17,000) from customers to fund her gambling habit.

She Chose Her Victims Carefully

As per a report in the NZ Herald, Ms. Carine’s thefts were not random acts of desperation. She allegedly chose her victims carefully – they were either aged people who had cognitive or other health issues, people who weren’t too familiar with technology – they mostly didn’t have internet banking enabled for their accounts and were therefore less likely to be aware of her shenanigans.

Ms. Carine worked in the bank from May 2022 till October 2023, a little before her thefts came to light. She apparently quit before her thefts were discovered by bank officials.

Her calculated act of crime has perplexed commoners, law officials and the judge as well. When she was produced in the court of Judge Gregory Hikaka, the judge said she picked her victims carefully and that made her crime not an act of irresponsibility but an act of cruelty.

Speaking at her trial the judge said, “It’s clear that you picked your victims. Elderly, some with cognitive issues, and people who did not have online internet banking, because they preferred face-to-face contact with someone they thought they could trust.”

The defendant now faces 9 charges in all, each of them serious. These include 8 counts of accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes and 1 count of ’using a document for a pecuniary advantage.’

Teller’s Lawyer Uses Gambling Addiction as Defense

Speaking at the court, Ms. Carine’s defense lawyer, 28-year old Sam Hunt, said that she was not a villain at heart and that her actions were a direct result of her gambling addiction.

Mr Hunt said Ms. Carine had shown remorse for her actions and also returned the money she had taken in full. Not only that, she didn’t have any criminal history prior to this event and had voluntarily entered a treatment program to deal with her addiction.

Judge Hikaka, however, chose to point at the other direction and focus on the serious nature of the crime itself. In his opinion the teller had broken the trust of her customers and preyed on people who were ‘vulnerable’. His view of the case from this angle will likely impact her sentencing.

Ms. Carine has been remanded and granted bail. Her sentencing has been pushed a bit and is now scheduled for September this year.

Unwary Customer Exposes Theft

Ms. Carine had been in the employ of the bank since May 2022; the crimes were committed a little while before she quit her job. The bank got wind of the matter when one of the victims happened to receive a communication from the bank stating that funds had been withdrawn from an account that had otherwise been dormant.

The bank then launched an internal investigation. The findings were startling, to say the least: the teller had been fleecing her victims since August 11, 2023. There were multiple withdrawals of varying amounts in the next few days. The largest withdrawal was to the tune of NZ$8,000. She had withdrawn the money and written it up as a transfer to a premier account.

Actions Caught on Camera

The internal investigation was conducted by the financial crime and intelligent manager of the bank. It led to discovery of CCTV footage that was damning evidence – of the teller counting NZ$50 notes and placing them in a canvas banking bag. This was at a time when there were no customers at the counter.

In all, Ms. Carine is believed to have defrauded 4 customers. Judge Hikaka said it was unfortunate that she chose to abuse the trust of her customers at a bank that happened to be the only locally-owned bank in New Zealand. Her actions had sullied the good reputation that the bank enjoyed among the people and were serious enough to merit some form of punishment.