Darwin pub caught trying to block Aboriginal man from collecting his pokie winnings
The owner of Rorkes pub in Darwin has been accused of trying to prevent an Aboriginal patron collecting his winnings from the pub’s pokie machines.
Brenton Carter won over $12,500 playing pokies at Rorkes, but owner Mitch McNamee instructed staff to tell him he was "too drunk" to collect.
Carter was given $1,000 in cash and an $11,000 cheque that was due to be paid out by a Darwin pawn shop, but was later cancelled.
Staff were told to "put him off" until he stopped coming in to collect his winnings.
In a voice recording obtained by the ABC McNamee is heard instructing his staff not to pay out the man.
"That guy is gonna come back furious because the money didn't go in because it's not in there, it's not in there," McNamee said in the recording.
However, when McNamee is later asked by a staff member whether they should "drag it out longer" he responded that “it's too late, someone's given it to him”.
"Someone gave out a $10,000 cheque that we haven't got the money in the bank for yesterday," he said in the recording. "I told duty managers not to pay it."
The pub appears to be in financial strife, with a number of staff claiming they haven’t been paid by McNamee. A handwritten sign on the venue's back door also says it is closed "until further notice".
Sheridan Randall, 1st February 2019
