An apprentice mechanic who pocketed $200 he spotted on a casino floor has been found guilty of theft by a Perth magistrate.
It's something of a cautionary tale for anyone who happens upon a stash of unclaimed cash. 22 year-old Adrian Lamonica-Miraglio was on a night out with his mates at Perth's Burswood Casino when he spotted $200 in cash lying on the floor. Surely thinking it was his lucky night, he trousered the haul.
But it turned out that the money belonged to electrician Garrat Thiele, who told Perth's Magistrate's Court that he had withdrawn $300 for dinner (lobster and caviar presumably), but lost $200 on his way to the casino restaurant. And so the cash bought Lamonica-Miraglio three hours' questioning in a casino holding cell and a criminal conviction.
Lamonica-Miraglio admitted to the court that he put his foot on the money to hide it, and that he made no attempt to locate the owner once he had picked it up. Although, as his lawyer argued, it would have made little sense to ask casino goers if they wanted to claim $200. Still this argument failed to impress the magistrate, who ruled that the mechanic knew the money wasn't his and made a deliberate attempt to conceal it from the victim. He slapped Lamonica-Miraglio with a spent conviction order and a $500 fine, plus $300 in costs.
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It's something of a cautionary tale for anyone who happens upon a stash of unclaimed cash. 22 year-old Adrian Lamonica-Miraglio was on a night out with his mates at Perth's Burswood Casino when he spotted $200 in cash lying on the floor. Surely thinking it was his lucky night, he trousered the haul.
But it turned out that the money belonged to electrician Garrat Thiele, who told Perth's Magistrate's Court that he had withdrawn $300 for dinner (lobster and caviar presumably), but lost $200 on his way to the casino restaurant. And so the cash bought Lamonica-Miraglio three hours' questioning in a casino holding cell and a criminal conviction.
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A slightly more ambitious casino crime |
Lamonica-Miraglio admitted to the court that he put his foot on the money to hide it, and that he made no attempt to locate the owner once he had picked it up. Although, as his lawyer argued, it would have made little sense to ask casino goers if they wanted to claim $200. Still this argument failed to impress the magistrate, who ruled that the mechanic knew the money wasn't his and made a deliberate attempt to conceal it from the victim. He slapped Lamonica-Miraglio with a spent conviction order and a $500 fine, plus $300 in costs.
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