The mobile game gambling addiction of a certain woman in Australia ends up in multiple court charges after she stole $680,000 from her former employer just to play.

Mobile Game Gambling Gone Wrong? Woman Admits Stealing $680,000 to Play
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An AFP journalist looks at a Gambling online website page in Washington,DC on January 17, 2019. - US authorities have begun a move to ban all forms of internet gambling, reversing course from a 2011 decision and imperiling a burgeoning online wagering sector in several American states.

Mobile Game Gambling Gone Wrong

The woman pleaded guilty to the fraud charges filed against her. It comes after she used her account manager position from a veterinary hospital to steal about $680,000.

As per the report by Kotaku, a woman named Rachel Naomi Perri ended up using the hefty amounts of money that she stole from her employer to play a gambling mobile game.

However, it turns out that the game wherein she poured in thousands of dollars does not give any real cash payout to its players.

In fact, the gambling game entitled "Heart of Vegas" was a mobile gaming title that only simulates slot machines found in real-world casinos.

Thus, it does not pay out its players with cash whenever they win in the game. Instead, winners are rewarded with virtual prizes, which is an in-game currency that does not have any real-world value.

As such, even if players pour in thousands of dollars and win repeatedly, there is no way that they are earning real-world money from it.

It is to note that online live casinos have skyrocketed during the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, "Heart of Vegas" is not a live casino platform as it is a mere simulation of the machines found in Las Vegas Casinos.

Woman Admits Stealing $680,000

Perri pleaded guilty to 25 counts of computer-related fraud and one count of fraud charges as she appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Nov. 22, as per the news story by ABC.

The 49-year-old mobile gamer worked with the employer she stole from 2016 up until 2019.

However, the Tasmanian Veterinary Hospital only knew about the fraudulent transactions after she was made redundant back in 2019.

Prosecutor Simone Wilson claimed during the court proceedings that the former employees of the veterinary made a total of 475 fraudulent transactions in the span of three years and four months.

The prosecutor further said that Perri was discovered to have transferred money from the bank account of her employer to various other accounts, including personal loans and credit cards under her name.

Read Also: Casinos Look To Video Games For Inspiration For Drawing In Younger Crowds

'Severe Gambling Disorder'

ABC said in the same report that Perri has been diagnosed with a "severe gambling disorder."

Perri previously told the police last Nov. 2019 that she has been playing the mobile gaming title "Heart of Vegas" for four years already, admitting that all of her money has been poured into it.

The lawyer of the woman, Greg Barns, further said that Perri's fascination for gambling started when she first got her taste of victory in a poker machine, wherein she won $26.

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Written by Teejay Boris

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