in Spain, a police officer convicted of embezzlement
In Spain, a police officer has just been convicted of embezzling betting funds. The man is serving a five-month suspended prison sentence. He has also been dismissed from his post for ten months. In the following lines, we tell you all about this bizarre case, which doesn’t happen every day!
Spain: a policeman embezzles money to gamble at the casino
The incident occurred in 2020, when the police officer in question and other members of his team dismantled a drug trafficking ring. On the scene, the officer and his colleagues seized entire bags of marijuana, as well as almost €10,000 in cash.
Instead of sequestering the money, the police officer decided to take it as soon as the other detectives turned their backs. Eight hours later, the individual went to a small local casino with the money found in the criminals’ hideout, just to enjoy himself. To make matters worse, he squandered all the money he’d wagered, eventually returning home with no winnings to his name.
Later, when the police officer’s superiors asked him to return the seized items, he delivered only the drugs, which drew the suspicions of his colleagues. The latter reported their partner’s omission, prompting an investigation. It wasn’t long before the charge of embezzlement was laid!
Fortunately, the thieving police officer was fortunate: by returning the money demanded (from his own savings), he benefited from a major mitigating factor, which led to de facto a much lighter sentence. Bottom line: the casino-loving police officer got off with a suspended sentencealthough the prosecution can still appeal this decision.
Two other major crimes in the news this week
Recent news reports show that the Spanish police officer’s actions are not an isolated case. For example, Binance Holdings, which runs the world’s largest crypto-currency exchange platform, has admitted to breaching anti-money laundering regulations in the USA. In fact, the company only cashed in on profits, caring little about the provenance and destination of funds placed on its site. Binance has already been fined $4.3 billion. And that’s just the beginning… Moreover, Changpeng Zhao, the company’s founder and CEO, resigned from his position in the wake of this affair.
Finally, as we recently reported, an individual has been sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison for assaulting a woman during a fight that broke out at the Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino, in Nevada, USA.
