Another proud day to be residing in my home state of Connecticut. In yesterday’s article “Gambling Takes A Toll” in the Journal Inquirer, writer Keith Phaneuf reviews a study relating to gambling as our Governer Rell and lawmakers debate the idea of allowing more gambling in the form of Keno within our state. With regards to embezzlement, he writes that state and federal authorities made 43 arrests in 1992, and 214 in 2007, a 400% increase. No other state with more than 40 embezzlements in 1992 reported as high an increase in these crimes. The national increase was 38%, so we beat the national average as well.
It’s not surprising there’s embezzlement in Connecticut, and I can see how one could blame the casinos for the increase. However, having been investigating embezzlements for the past 21 years, both before and after the casinos were opened, I don’t see gambling as the route cause of stealing as often as one would think. In the past three years I have seen far more cases involving the big “E” (Entitlement) more than anything, followed by one’s desire to live beyond their means. I’m not saying gambling doesn’t come up, because it does, but in my personal experience gambling is not all that frequent the explanation behind the crimes.
Go to the Journal Inquirer’s website for the full article if interested:
http://www.journalinquirer.com/