Operator News
Chile – Sun Monticello Casino facing lawsuit
By Phil - 26 October 2017
The owners of the Sun Monticello casino, the largest casino in Chile, are being sued by family members of a victim who died during a shooting on the premises.
Carolina de los Angeles Carreño Avila was murdered by problem gambler, Osvaldo Campos Azocar, 42. The incident, which took place after the player had lost more than £20,000, his life savings at the roulette table, saw the country’s gambling regulator call for a review of the casino’s security measures. The croupier was one of two fatal victims during the attack, which took place on July 2. The man, who worked as a vet, later committed suicide by lethal injection in one of the casino’s toilets, having locked himself in the bathrooms for 17 hours.
Lawyers who are taking on the case claim that the accident was caused by negligence and a lack of duty of safety and care by the defendant San Francisco Investment SA. According to the plaintiffs, a number of events had occurred recently at the casino, which should have made the company adopt security measures and train staff so that they would been able to deal with dangerous situations more effectively.
In July 2016, robbers targeted the casino when there were a number of customers still inside the casino in the early hours of the morning. The robbers first tried to take the ATM by attaching it to a vehicle and pulling it out via a steel loop but failed. The thieves then used explosive gas to blow up the device and managed to escape with over $6m pesos (US$9,000).
Then in June this year a guard on duty at the casino was shot and wounded after a failed robbery. According to police, the incident occurred during the early hours of the morning after the man identified as Stiven Mi Abuamsha (40), began shooting into the air in the main gaming room of the casino.
According to local daily El Mercurio, lawyers are demanding $168,973,896 (US$266,999.172) a sum calculated on monthly wages plus tips Carreño Avila would have earned over the next 26 years plus an additional $3bn (US$4,740,505.581) for “moral damages” which should they win will be divided equally by her two daughters. Lawyers are also demanding a further $1.5bn (US$2,370,196.573) for the father of her two children.
The casino’s Finance Manager, Rodrigo Martínez, strongly denied the claims saying that what happened “was an unprecedented event in the gaming industry in Chile” and rejected the claim in its entirety. Furthermore, he told press that only two days after the tragedy, the Ministry of Interior and Security issued a decree, which ruled that casinos must install metal detectors in order to prevent armed customers from entering the premises.
