RSS Feed
April 10th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The sacked managing director of Sydney’s The Star casino Sid Vaikunta used cocaine at work and was engaged in a drug cover-up, an inquiry has been told.
Mr Vaikunta, who was sacked earlier this year, used cocaine at the casino on three documented occasions and had the nickname “Sniffing Sid”, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority inquiry in Sydney heard.
Former employees have told the inquiry how Mr Vaikunta had a personal relationship with a high roller and had intervened to protect himself when drugs were discovered while the man was on the premises.
Elizabeth Ward, a former acting duty manager at the casino, said that when cocaine was discovered in a bathroom in November 2010, the sample was replaced with cement powder.
She believed the casino’s general manager of table games, Heather Scheibenstock, tried to shut down Ms Ward’s investigation of the drug find under instructions from Mr Vaikunta.
A high roller, whose named has been suppressed, had a gambling debt worth more than $200,000 and a close social relationship with Mr Vaikunta, the inquiry heard.
Ms Ward, a 24-year casino industry veteran, said she had also observed Mr Vaikunta displaying erratic behaviour consistent with drug use.
“Glassy eyes, eyes dilated, licking his lips, a particular twitch … which is exactly how he became known as `Sniffing Sid’,” she said.
“I’ve seen quite a few people with similar symptoms.”
Greg Culpan, a former tables dealer, said he had witnessed Mr Vaikunta under the influence of cocaine at an employee forum in 2011.
“I believe that Mr Vaikunta was off his face,” he told the inquiry.
“I saw him sniffing his nose incessantly, I could see he was itchy all the time. He was very animated, his eyes were enlarged, he seemed to have an extreme amount of energy.”
Ms Ward told the inquiry Mr Vaikunta used the phrase “bring on the pussy” when referring to women.
Outside the inquiry, she blamed the chief executive of the casino’s parent company Echo Entertainment, Larry Mullin, for making sexual harassment acceptable.
“It’s been very difficult for me,” she told reporters.
“It’s such a shame that such a fantastic business can be turned in such a way.”
Mr Mullin is expected to appear on Wednesday before the inquiry headed by Gail Furness, SC.
Ms Ward, who joined the casino in 1995 when it was known as Star City, denied a suggestion that she took sick leave in March 2011 after her application to become a permanent gaming manager failed.
Earlier, counsel for the inquiry Michael Wigney, SC, told the inquiry NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell would not be asked to appear because there was no suggestion he was involved.
The premier’s former communications director Peter Grimshaw has worked at the casino, and his girlfriend is embroiled in sexual harassment claims against Mr Vaikunta.
Opposition Leader John Robertson said the inquiry ran the risk of “looking like a whitewash”.
Mr Vaikunta released a statement on Tuesday evening saying comments made by Ms Ward about cocaine use were completely false.
“I have never been a cocaine user,” Mr Vaikunta said in his statement, released through his lawyer.
“Furthermore, her assertion that I influenced an investigation involving a VIP player due to my social relationship is baseless.
“I was not part of that investigation and I did not at any time participate in the procedure that followed to complete that investigation.
“Her defamatory remarks about me are untrue.”
Echo Entertainment Group said evidence given by a “disgruntled former employee” about a drug cover-up was wrong.
“A number of allegations aired today by Elizabeth Ward and Greg Culpan were based on rumour and speculation which Mr Culpan admitted was `gaming floor scuttlebutt’,” Echo said in a statement, which was released on Tuesday evening.
“In particular Echo emphatically denies claims by Ms Ward that there was a cover-up of the discovery of a suspicious substance in a high rollers’ room on the instructions of The Star’s former managing director.
“Echo also notes Mr Culpan told today’s hearing he was satisfied with The Star’s compliance program over the last two years.”
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
