Gambling on Taking Cash Given by Casino ATM Leads to Arrest
An Illinois man was charged with felony theft from an automated teller machine at a Gary, Indiana, casino. Prosecutors say Shawn King used a software flaw to withdraw over $20,000, even though his bank account was empty.
King is the fourth person to be arrested in the incident last May at the Majestic Star Casino. Records show that hundreds attempted to take advantage of the malfunctioning ATM to get cash from invalid, closed, or overdrawn accounts.
The ATM operator lost more than $2 million before the problem was discovered and corrected.
Prosecuting authorities have not accepted the defense that users thought they had just found a very loose slot machine.
Casino officials are also denying reports that Majestic Star management had been overheard to say that any gambler leaving with more cash than he arrived with is automatically a crime.
As with slot machines, apparently patrons are responsible for the proper working of all apparati. Neither slots that hit jackpots nor ATMs that give out free cash can be considered the operator's duty.
In the future, efficiency might be improved to where funds are directly deposited from personal bank accounts through ATMs to casino accounts, relieving patrons of the heavy responsibility of touching their cash before they lose it.
