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Sixty Year Old Woman Arrested due to Gambling Habits
Iowa lawmakers are considering making changes to some of their gambling options. They are wondering if
they need to start looking at gambling another way. This is partially due to the fact that a sixty year
old woman by the name of Barbara Tona has found herself facing jail time. Tona has found herself facing
theft charges which she incurred while trying to keep up with her gambling habit. Her charge is first degree
theft and she is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from her employers. The fact that this money was
taken by Tona in order to support her gambling has captured the attention of the local lawmakers.
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How did this Happen?
During the years 2008 and 2009, Tona gambled away more than $85,000. All of this gambling happened to take
place during the same time period that she is accused of stealing the money from. Casino documents have been
used by the authorities as a way to link the two together. They received the documents through a subpoena.
Tona has denies all of the accusations and she has stated that the money was only lost due to bad bookkeeping.
She was responsible for collecting money and making sure it got deposited into the bank. It is shown that Tona
did collect some cash and gave receipts for that cash. However, the money never got deposited into the company's
bank account. Instead, it is alleged that the money went to the casino with Tona.
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The Employers Reaction
One of the woman's former employers, Mary Summers, is extremely upset with her. However, the former employer did
make a point of pointing out that she also places some of the blame on the casinos where Tona went and lost the money.
She said "I'm extremely upset with Barb and extremely upset with what she did to me. I think the casino has some
responsibility in that. They should have caught this." The law makers have since decided to postpone legislation
which would allow for the expansion of casinos in the state, as well as address Internet gambling.
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