Gambling, as with other addictions, too often leads down the road of crime to fund the habit, with a trail of wrecked lives scattered along the way.
The collateral damage is immense.
Last week, accountant Jonathan Blow, a father of two, was jailed for more than 20 years for stealing an almost incomprehensible R50m from the businesses of two brothers, who had trusted him implicitly and treated him like family.
Peter Barnes, former owner of the Sunridge SUPERSPAR, told the court his life had been torn apart by Blow’s actions.
“I feel like a fool for trusting him. I thought I was a failure. At one stage, it got so bad that I thought of killing myself.”
After the sentencing last week, Barnes said: “The ones who lost out here were my staff.
“For years they didn’t get bonuses.
“They looked at me as if I was robbing them or taking their money for myself.”
In another case earlier in 2024, 47-year-old father of three Harold Henry was jailed for 18 years for stealing a whopping R14m from his cancer-stricken boss.
He too gambled the money away.
After he was found out, the couple who had employed him were left with only a few thousand in their bank account and owed millions to creditors, Sars, the Competition Commission and others.
The couple, who farmed citrus in the Kirkwood/Addo area, had to rely on family to get by and even had to sell an overseas property because of outstanding rates and taxes due to Henry’s thieving.
They were also unable to help their farmworkers with school clothes for their children, something they usually did every year.
In February, in Durban, pathological gambler Cindy Saunders was sentenced to an effective nine years in prison for defrauding two companies out of almost R17m to fund her addiction.
She said she had blown all the money at casinos, on online gambling and paying off loan sharks. None of the money was recovered.
In January, a Cape Town man was arrested for allegedly staging his own kidnapping and demanding a ransom from his family because he wanted money for gambling. This case is continuing.
In all these cases, the gamblers’ actions have had huge negative effects on the lives of countless others.
While gambling is an addiction, the staggering amounts often involved and toll it takes on the victims justifies lengthy jail sentences for those addicts who turn to thieving to fund their habits.
HeraldLIVE
Gambling criminals deserve lengthy sentences
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Image: WERNER HILLS
Gambling, as with other addictions, too often leads down the road of crime to fund the habit, with a trail of wrecked lives scattered along the way.
The collateral damage is immense.
Last week, accountant Jonathan Blow, a father of two, was jailed for more than 20 years for stealing an almost incomprehensible R50m from the businesses of two brothers, who had trusted him implicitly and treated him like family.
Peter Barnes, former owner of the Sunridge SUPERSPAR, told the court his life had been torn apart by Blow’s actions.
“I feel like a fool for trusting him. I thought I was a failure. At one stage, it got so bad that I thought of killing myself.”
After the sentencing last week, Barnes said: “The ones who lost out here were my staff.
“For years they didn’t get bonuses.
“They looked at me as if I was robbing them or taking their money for myself.”
In another case earlier in 2024, 47-year-old father of three Harold Henry was jailed for 18 years for stealing a whopping R14m from his cancer-stricken boss.
He too gambled the money away.
After he was found out, the couple who had employed him were left with only a few thousand in their bank account and owed millions to creditors, Sars, the Competition Commission and others.
The couple, who farmed citrus in the Kirkwood/Addo area, had to rely on family to get by and even had to sell an overseas property because of outstanding rates and taxes due to Henry’s thieving.
They were also unable to help their farmworkers with school clothes for their children, something they usually did every year.
In February, in Durban, pathological gambler Cindy Saunders was sentenced to an effective nine years in prison for defrauding two companies out of almost R17m to fund her addiction.
She said she had blown all the money at casinos, on online gambling and paying off loan sharks. None of the money was recovered.
In January, a Cape Town man was arrested for allegedly staging his own kidnapping and demanding a ransom from his family because he wanted money for gambling. This case is continuing.
In all these cases, the gamblers’ actions have had huge negative effects on the lives of countless others.
While gambling is an addiction, the staggering amounts often involved and toll it takes on the victims justifies lengthy jail sentences for those addicts who turn to thieving to fund their habits.
HeraldLIVE
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