Pensioner’s $500,000 pokie spree and the Wild West of club governance

Crown casino has the Sky Salons and The Star has the Sovereign room.But high rollers who want to spend big on the pokies without being subjected to the casinos’ stringent source-of-funds checks have another option: Club Marconi’s Diamond Suite.Patrons are required to turn over at least $500,000 per year on the poker machines to qualify for entry to the Bossley Park club’s luxurious members-only lounge, which is accessed by swipe pass through an unmarked door, and where no questions are asked.Inside the Diamond Suite at Marconi Club.Take Patricia Zalavros, a 62-year-old pensioner who lives in a Bossley Park home owned by the Department of Housing. Zalavros’ modest circumstances belie an extraordinary run of luck on the pokies, which have apparently delivered her a bonanza big enough to reinvest in whale-sized quantities. She has been a member of the Diamond Suite since it opened a decade ago, and plays the pokies there until 4am six or seven nights a week.The apparent disparity between Zalavros’ income and spending is well known to Club Marconi. Her domestic partner, Angelo Ruisi, is a director of the club, and sits on its gaming committee. He is often known to swing past the suite in the evening so she can drive him home before returning to the club to gamble.This has not happened recently because Ruisi’s membership of the club was suspended after he was alleged to have hurled racial abuse at guests praying outside a wedding reception on the second level of the clubhouse in mid-July.The club has allowed him to continue to attend board meetings, however, so he can contribute to decisions on behalf of members.A major reckoning with money laundering in the state’s two casinos over the last decade has resulted in board restructures, prosecutions and heavy oversight by a new regulator, the NSW Independent Casino Commission. The casinos are also obliged to be mindful of ASX corporate governance principles that stress the importance of an effective board. Their directors are required to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest.But registered clubs whose business models are also underpinned by gambling are not held to the same scrutiny and have not been forced to undergo any such cultural change.The Minns government has yet to respond to a recommendation by Adam Bell, KC, in his review of The Star, to consider extending the harm minimisation obligations imposed on the casino to all gambling venues, nor the NSW Crime Commission’s recommendation to introduce mandatory cashless gambling to pubs and clubs to prevent money laundering.Meanwhile, the financial crimes watchdog has alleged that the state’s largest club group, Mounties, engaged in “serious and systemic” non-compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism [AML/CTF] laws, including failing to run checks on customers who ploughed millions through the machines while stating their occupations as housewives or retirees.Separately, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority [ILGA] last week fined Seven Hills RSL’s general manager Joseph Bayssari $11,000 and banned him for five years for accepting $280,000 in undisclosed cash payments from a contractor, awarding catering contracts to his son’s company without a transparent tender process, and receiving financial assistance for renovations to his children’s homes. Bayssari was an industry leader as the vice president of the Club Managers’ Association. He stood down from the board on August 6.Club Marconi reported $46 million in revenue last financial year, about 95 per cent from its poker machines. It has been the subject of several complaints over the conduct of its executives and directors, some of whom have business relationships with the club.In 2023, an independent investigation commissioned by the board and undertaken by former Assistant Police Commissioner Mal Brammer substantiated numerous allegations of wrongdoing by its president, Morris Licata, including not disclosing conflicts of interest, accepting favours from club contractors and feasting to an excessive degree on the club’s dime. Brammer noted that concerns about Licata were raised as far back as 2021, and his activities had continued “unabated” while the board dithered over what to do.But the majority of directors on Club Marconi’s board voted not to sanction Licata on the basis of Brammer’s findings, and to instead refer the report to NSW Liquor and Gaming, which was already investigating other matters at the club.Director Frank Olivieri, who as the head of the club’s audit committee had pushed for the investigation to be conducted, resigned in disgust.The Herald can reveal that Olivieri’s seat on the board was won at the next election by Dean Zonta, a tiler whose staunch support of president Licata allegedly extended to intimidating a witness to Brammer’s inquiry.Witnesses alleged that Zonta threatened the CEO’s executive assistant at a business event held on Club Marconi premises in March 2023. One witness, a former policeman, alleged in a written account provided to the chief executive that Zonta had aggressively denounced Brammer’s investigation and those who co-operated with it.“Anyone involved in this f---ing investigation is f---ed and they will get theirs,” he allegedly said, before referring to the executive assistant as “the snitch”.The executive assistant alleged in her own written account to the chief executive that Zonta had boasted to her on the night in question that he was connected by blood to a prominent underworld family, and stared at her as he warned that people “better not f--- with him”.She alleged that later that night Zonta grabbed her phone after accusing her of filming him in a heated conversation (which she denied and maintained that she was taking photos instead) and threw it over a fence, shouting, “Charge me for that you f---in’ bitch, interview me over that, I don’t give a f---, I’ve got you now, you’re gone, you snitch.”She said that after security helped her find the phone, she left the club and drove home in shock, pulling over a few times as she battled through tears.She was suspended the following day, and later negotiated exit terms including a financial settlement and a non-disclosure agreement.Zonta was elected to the board eight months later. Along with his seat on the board, his business, Manhattan Tiling, also now sponsors its football team.Brammer, who rose to the position of assistant commissioner for special crimes and internal affairs during his 38 years in the police force and later became a senior investigator with the National Crime Authority, was paid $34,000 to conduct his investigation, which was referred to Liquor and Gaming NSW.But Liquor and Gaming NSW concluded its own 4.5 year investigation into the club this year with a decision to take no action against any serving directors or staff.A spokeswoman for Liquor and Gaming said the agency had inquired into Brammer’s report as part of a wider investigation into multiple allegations, but “did not identify sufficient evidence to allow for regulatory action to be taken”.The agency did, however, refer a disciplinary complaint about Club Marconi’s former chief executive to ILGA, which found in January that he had defrauded the club by receiving a kickback, banned him for 12 months and fined him $11,000.The club declined to respond to detailed questions, but said in a statement: “Club Marconi takes its AML/CTF, safe gambling obligations and corporate governance very seriously and with the highest regard and reaffirms that it continues to operate in accordance with our legislative and regulatory requirements. To ensure Club Marconi complies with its privacy and confidentiality obligations, the club will not respond to any individual questions relating to specific members or directors of the club.”In June, Licata, Ruisi and Zonta were among the directors recognised by the NSW parliament for marking Festa Della Repubblica at Club Marconi in what upper house MP Rachel Merton described as a “tremendous day that showcased the very best of community spirit”.Not mentioned was the brawl in an al fresco area of the clubhouse amid stunned patrons. There is no suggestion that any directors were involved in the brawl.Licata, Zonta, Ruisi and Zalavros declined to comment.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.More:Poker machinesGamblingGaming & wageringNSW State ParliamentFrom our partners