Iowa Woman Accused Of Stealing Money To Fund Gambling Addiction

Lawmakers in the state of Iowa are considering expanding their gambling options. It is a gambling addiction, however, that has landed one Iowa woman in jail for theft.

Authorities arrested sixty year old Barbara Tona and charged her with first-degree theft. Tona is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from her employer, Oakwood Investments, and two other companies.

From the period between 2008 and 2009, Toma gambled away over $85,000. That is the same time period for which she is accused of stealing. Authorities linked the two together through casino documents obtained from the Mystique and Diamond Jo casinos through a subpoena.

Tona has denied the allegations and claims that the money was lost because of poor bookkeeping. The employee was responsible for collecting rent and depositing the money into the bank. In many of the cases, Toma collected cash and gave receipts, but did not deposit the funds.

Mary and Carl Summers are the owners of Oakwood Investments, and Mary Summers is highly upset with her former employee. She did, however, place some of the blame on the casinos where Toma lost the money.

"I'm extremely upset with Barb and extremely upset with what she did to me," said Summers, "I think the casino has some responsibility in that. They should have caught this."

Legislators are considering expanding the number of casinos in Iowa, and have also debated Internet gambling in recent months. Late last week, it appeared that any expanded gambling legislation would be dead for this session.

March 15, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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