The Bank of New Zealand is being sued by a company accusing it of failing to red flag tens of thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent cheques used by an employee to gamble at SkyCity.
Over a six-year period Herminia Lanuza stole $2.7 million from Domestic Agencies Ltd and used the money to gamble at the high rollers' lounge at the casino.
Of this money, $784,363 was withdrawn using fraudulent cheques from various banks including the Bank of New Zealand's SkyCity branch, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Lanuza had no authority to carry out the transactions, according to the police summary of facts.
On one occasion she cashed a $30,100 cheque within one minute of the casino bank branch opening at 9am. Lanuza also took $123,375 from the company's account using withdrawal and transfer slips at the casino branch.
In October 2010, Lanuza was sentenced to four years in jail.
The BNZ casino branch is open up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, has three tellers and private rooms.
Domestic Agencies has filed a civil case against BNZ in the High Court at Auckland.
An official report showed SkyCity patrons effectively have "unlimited access" to cash through 13 ATMs and the BNZ branch at the casino, according to documents released under the Official Information Act.
Both BNZ and SkyCity told the Herald that the BNZ branch is primarily used for foreign exchange purposes.
Problem Gambling chief executive Graeme Ramsey labelled the opening hours as "socially questionable".
"People come back again and again, checking their balances, looking to how they can get more cash out."
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