Theft from Employer Frankston
Charges
The client was charged with stealing $25 000 from his employer and was due to attend the Frankston Magistrates’ Court.
Facts
The client was working as an assistant manager at a retail store. Addicted to ICE, he started taking money directly from the Eftpos account at work to maintain his addiction. He did this by falsifying customer refunds over a period of three months.
The client had some prior criminal history relating to dishonesty and assault and so he was very worried about going to prison in relation to the new matters. After we received the police brief of evidence we advised the client to complete drug and alcohol counselling, provide clean urine screens and obtain letters of reference from both his new employer and his father.
Result
After receiving the police brief of evidence a number of things became clear to us. The client’s deception had been very clumsy, as he had had the money directly refunded to his personal bank account. This meant there was a very high chance he would be caught. The offending lacked sophistication and indicated real desperation.
The Court took this into account, as well as his outstanding references, his young age and good prospects. The Magistrate imposed a four month prison sentence, wholly suspended for a period of two years. The client was very lucky and very relieved.
