How did a 57-year-old gran who lives with her six cats, drives a 13-year-old VW Passat, and earns £36,000 a year afford to blow £50,000 a month on online bingo?

It is the question Mecca Bingo should have asked themselves when they let Kent county-resident Caroline Dumont gamble almost £20,000 a week.

But they didn’t ask. Instead, the company treated her to expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas where she flew in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon and a cruise to the Bahamas, all for being such a good customer.

Little did they know, Dumont stole her stake from three companies where she worked, to the point that it almost bankrupted one company while anther was forced into liquidation. One company managed to stay in business, but only because the owner used her own money to keep the company afloat.