Theft
-Maximum penalty: 10 years’ imprisonment
Case / Date / Disposition Type / Head Sentence / Orders / Individual Sentences / Plea / Offence / Appeal StatusBrosnan and Dailakis [2017] VCC 668
Offender 1 / 26 May 2017 / Custodial / 96 months (8 years)
NPP – 72 months (6 years) / Theft x 42 (rolled-up x 12) (3 years x 4, 18 months x 7, 12 months x 16, 6 months x 14) / NG / Offending – O1 was the accountant for a company and would authorise transfers to O2’s bank accounts by substituting the account numbers of genuine creditors with O2’s. This occurred for 11-12 transactions. O2 would transfer the money through multiple accounts and later withdraw it in cash.
Both offenders stole $1,822,783.33 through this method. O1 stole an additional $87,363.39 also. Breach of trust. Joint criminal enterprise.
Offender 1 – prior convictions for dishonesty offences, 43 y male, alcohol use, family support, anxiety, depression, completion of courses
Brosnan and Dailakis [2017] VCC 668
Offender 2 / 26 May 2017 / Custodial / 91 months (7 years 7 months)
NPP – 67 months (5 years 7 months) / Theft x 38 (rolled-up x 11) (3 years x 4, 18 months x 6, 12 months x 16, 6 months x 11) / NG / Offending – O1 was the accountant for a company and would authorise transfers to O2’s bank accounts by substituting the account numbers of genuine creditors with O2’s. This occurred for 11-12 transactions. O2 would transfer the money through multiple accounts and later withdraw it in cash.
Both offenders stole $1,822,783.33 through this method. Breach of trust. Joint criminal enterprise.
Offender 2 - prior convictions for dishonesty, violence, bail and driving offences, 54 y male, character references, gambling addiction / Conviction appeal dismissed
[2018] VSCA 101
24 April 2018
Matisi [2017] VCC 797 / 19 June 2017 / Custodial / 78 months (6 years 6 months)
NPP – 54 months (4 years 6 months) / Theft (continuing criminal enterprise) x 6 (rolled-up x 3) (aggregate sentence – 6 years 6 months) / G (early) / Offending – O was an accounts payable clerk at a family run company. O’s role was to pay suppliers, but dishonestly channelled payments into his own bank accounts. O would enter supplier details into the company banking system to purport to make payment to them, but replace the supplier bank accounts with his own.
Over a period of 2 years O stole $2.7M over 180 transactions. Significant breach of trust. High level of criminality. Money spent on lavish lifestyle
Offender – motivated by financial gain, prior conviction for dishonesty offence, 51 y male, remorse, character references, family support, suicide attempt, reasonably good prospects of rehabilitation, physical conditions leading to increased custodial burden, totality
Tan [2016] VCC 2055 / 23 Dec 2016 / Custodial / 72 months (6 years)
NPP – 48 months (4 years) / Theft (rolled-up) x 7 (aggregate sentence - 6 years). / G (early) / Offending – Theft by bookkeeper extended over six years. O presented documentation for authorisation, but then manipulated system to change destination of the payments. Because actual suppliers were also paid, no outstanding debt leading to scrutiny. 485 dishonest transactions. Total amount was over $1.3m. Breach of trust in small company.
Offender – No prior convictions, 53 y, money spent on shopping, utilities and expenses, raised three children as sole parent, relatively low risk of re-offending in same way, prospects of rehabilitation relatively good.
Pope
[2016] VCC 397 / 7 April 2016 / Custodial / 72 months (6 years)
NPP – 48 months (4 years) / Theft x 4 (rolled-up) (aggregate sentence - 6 years). / G (early) / Offending - O set up fake shelf company, fabricated fake invoices and billed his employer 36 times to obtain $3,124,605.88 over 2.5 years. Devastating effect on employer. Gross breach of trust. Involved planning. Continuing criminal enterprise offender.
Offender – No prior convictions, onerous gaol, loss of career, job and marriage, major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, male, proceeds used for acquisitions of luxury items and holidays, restitution made and upon further sale of assets a total of $1,324,126.63 will be recovered, prior good character, remorse, co-operation, support of family, good rehabilitation prospects.
Burkwood [2017] VCC 896 / 30 June 2017 / Custodial / 66 months (5 years 6 months)
NPP – 42 months (3 years 6 months) / Theft x 18; and
Burglary x 17 (aggregate sentence – 54 months)
Armed robbery (2 years 6 months)
Theft (1 month)
Unlicensed driving (14 days)
Careless driving ($500 fine) / G (early) / Offending – Over the course of a week, O committed a series of burglaries and thefts involving motor vehicles, small quantities of alcohol, consumer electronics, power tools, medicine, cash and miscellaneous items.
O obtained entry to each location by using a rock, hammer, shopping trolley or some other item to smash in a glass window or door. O had also smashed glass doors or windows at a shopping centre and a service station to gain entry.
O drove one of the stolen vehicles to the burglaries, and at one point drove it without headlights at night and unlicensed. O drove the stolen car to a store and encountered the employee V who was closing the till. O demanded money from the till, grabbed a nearby broom and began swinging it. O stole $1200 in total. Spontaneous offending.
Offender – moral culpability Verdins, general deterrence Verdins, specific deterrence Verdins, male offender, borderline IQ, intellectual impairment, alcohol use, family support, obsessive compulsive disorder
Cornford [2017] VCC 873 / 28 June 2017 / Custodial / 66 months (5 years 6 months)
NPP – 36 months (3 years) / Theft x 13 (2 years x 2, 18 months x 2, 1 year x 6, 9 months, 3 months x 2)
Obtaining financial advantage by deception (1 year) / G (early) / Offending – O was financial controller of a company (V) and was involved in an international online scam. O misappropriated $1,512,704.85 from V over 5 years. O would appear to pay legitimate creditors using false documents and later would adjust figures to clear the credit and hide payments. O also paid himself unauthorised bonuses and advances, and cashed cheques ostensibly for petty cash but for his own purpose.
O sent $900,000 of the money to the scam victims who were used as money mules, and retained $600,000 for himself.
O also created false entries in the financial recording system to evade repayments owed to V in respect of the company car.
Serious and gross breach of trust. Significant amount of money over long period of time. Planning involved and systemic fraud.
Offender – no prior convictions, moral culpability Verdins, general deterrence Verdins, specific deterrence Verdins, imprisonment Verdins major depressive disorder, 61 y male, borderline personality disorder, carer for children, good prospects of rehabilitation, totality, proportionality
Sharma
[2016] VCC 1021 / 19 July 2016 / Custodial / 60 months (5 years)
NPP – 36 months (3 years) /
Theft x 58; andObtaining financial advantage by deception x 5 (aggregate sentence – 5 years).
/ G / Offending – O used his position as managing director and accountant of accounting firm to steal tax return funds and superannuation funds belonging to 61 clients. $837,532.78 obtained dishonestly. $722,204.78 still outstanding. Not anticipated that creditors will receive money. Breach of trust. No evidence regarding what money was spent on. No evidence of extravagant lifestyle. Continuing criminal enterprise offender.Offender – Prior dishonesty convictions, delay, remorse, O’s concern for mother’s health, male, totality.
Kitt [2017] VCC 1203 / 25 August 2017 / Custodial / 60 months (5 years)
NPP – 32 months (2 years 8 months) / Theft x 13;
Theft of a firearm;
Burglary x 10;
Trafficking in a drug of dependence;
Prohibited person in possession of a firearm;
Obtaining property by deception;
Handling stolen goods;
Criminal damage;
Possession of a drug of dependence;
Dangerous driving;
Tampering with a motor vehicle; and
Failing to stop (aggregate sentence – 5 years) / G / Offending – Over the course of five months, O committed a series of crimes assisted by others largely directed at farming properties. The offenders committed multiple burglaries and thefts from large farming sheds.
O also handled stolen goods including motor vehicles, farm vehicles, machinery and equipment, power tools, and other farming supplies such as fuel and chemicals. O also stole a firearm on one occasion and possessed firearms on multiple occasions. O was also involved in moving and selling goods interstate, altogether valued at $190,000.
O supplied drugs, usually methylamphetamine to his co-offender and others.
On other occasions, O stole a generator from a houseboat, switched products at Bunnings twice thereby obtaining property by deception, and tampered with a motor vehicle unsuccessfully trying to steal from it.
Police tried to intercept O, who drove dangerously to escape and failed to stop upon police request. O was also found in possession of a small amount of methylamphetamine when arrested.
Serious damaging offending. Prolonged and intensive, and on large scale. Betrayal of community.
Offender – motivated to fund drug use, prior convictions for drug and firearm offences, 28 y male, drug use, character references, family support, age of offender, parity
Rowe [2017] VCC 1731 / 22 November 2017 / Custodial / 60 months (5 years)
NPP – 30 months (2 years 6 months) / Theft x 9 (continuing criminal enterprise x 3); and
False accounting x 8 (aggregate sentence – 5 years) / G / Offending – O was employed at the victim company as a law clerk. Over eight years, O stole $666,000 in total through numerous dishonest transactions from clients and trust funds. O also attempted to hide the transactions through false accounting. Gross breaches of trust.
Offender – no prior convictions, 63 y female, unfortunate childhood, depression, osteoarthritis, hypertension, death of partner, little risk of re-offending.
Van Doorn [2016] VCC 1513 / 12 October 2016 / Custodial / 51 months (4 years and 3 months)
NPP - 27 months (2 years and 3 months) / Theft (rolled-up) x 7 (1 year and 6 months x 7). / G / Offending – Over 7 years O usedherpositionoftrust and stole from V (her employer). Outilisedherresponsibilitiesinareasofpettycash,socialclub accountsandpostalaccountsfor her own purposes.Offending probablyinvolvedactsofdishonestyondailybasisinordertosteal$416,715 ($370,511 from petty cash; $28,626 from social club accounts and $17,578from postal accounts). Offending involvedmultipleepisodesofOpreparingfalse documentationor utilising genuinereceiptsand invoicesforfalse purposes. Frequency of theft and amounts stolen increased over years. O stood up to branch manager when confronted and was not deterred from further offending. Grossabuseoftrust.
Offender – No prior convictions, no subsequent convictions, no pending matters, major depression, suicide attempt, 61 y female, motivated by greed, delay, abusive ex-husband who paidirregular child maintenance, work history, burdensome gaol due to separation from 86 y mother who has dementia, considerablereparation pursuant to court orders ($190,970), continuedcapacity forwork, remorse.
Jenkins [2017] VCC 1371 / 22 September 2017 / Custodial / 48 months (4 years)
NPP – 24 months (2 years)
$1800 fines / Theft x 10 (20 months x 3, 9 months, 8 months, 6 months, 4 months x 2, 3 months, 2 months)
Burglary x 2 (12 months x 2)
Trafficking in a drug of dependence (12 months)
Handling stolen goods x 6 (8 months, 6 months x 2, 4 months x 3)
Prohibited person possess firearm (6 months)
Driving at a dangerous speed ($600 fine)
Failing to stop x 3 ($400 fine x 3) / G (early) / Offending – O committed a series of offences:
- O broke into V1’s house and stole her shotgun and ammunition, jewellery, personal items, a camera, tools, a compressor, a stereo player and a laptop computer, and a mower and trailer.
- O broke to a factory and stole 38 different items, including a trolley, jack and various tools, camping equipment, jewellery, electrical goods, personal items, a computer and car keys, two firearms and a crossbow. O was a prohibited person at time of offending.
- O and a co-offender broke into a house and was discovered by police driving away in a stolen car towing a stolen tandem trailer. Police directed O to stop, but O ignored them and drove away at speed.
- O and a co-offender went to a construction site, cut the fence and loaded an excavator onto a tandem car trailer. O travelled a short distance before a tire blew out, and hid the excavator for a day before returning with another trailer to carry it away.
Offender – prior convictions for endangerment and firearms offences, 24 y male, drug use, youthful offender, totality
Hitchener [2016] VCC 1844 / 1 Dec 2016 / Custodial / 42 months (3 years and 6 months)
NPP – 21 months (1 year and 9 months) / Theft x 7 (aggregate sentence - 3 years and 6 months). / G (early) / Offending – O employed by V for 31 years. Front of house role during offending with access to eftpos facility. Over about 6 years, O processed 1985 false refund transactions. Each false refund paid into O’s personal bank account. O destroyed paper receipts that were generated. Total of $619,338.50 taken from business. Significant breach of trust. O directed executors of mother’s estate to pay $25% share to V, which could amount to $170,000.
Offender – No prior convictions, 49 y male, full admissions, remorseful, whole working life with V, abuse of methylamphetamine, unlikely to re-offend, good prospects for rehabilitation.
Burton [2017] VCC 1057 / 2 August 2017 / Custodial / 39 months (3 years 3 months)
NPP – 21 months (1 year 9 months)
$450 fines
12 month (1 year) license disqualification / Theft x 19 (8 months x 3, 6 months x 2, 4 months x 3, 3 months x 11)
Burglary x 8 (4 months x 5, 3 months x 3)
Obtaining property by deception x 10 (aggregate sentence – 2 months)
Possessing ammunition without a licence ($350 fine)
Possession of a drug of dependence ($100 fine) / G / Offending – Over the course of 2-3 weeks O went to different areas and burgled them and stole items from them. This occurred on 16 occasions, targeting commercial and residential properties and construction sites.
Stolen items included a generator and a marquee from a Scouts club, various fittings and installations from existing or partially constructed houses, an excavator from a construction site, a caravan from a vacant block, cabling and wiring from semi-industrial sites, a water pump from a school, and two trailers which O spray painted to change its colour.
O also used a stolen fuel card to make purchases at service stations for cigarette lighters, gift cards, drinks and similar items, which had been stolen during the theft of a truck from his previous employer.
Police searched O’s house and discovered the stolen items and a box of rifle ammunition. When arrested, O had an ice pipe and a small amount of methylamphetamine for personal use in his possession. The total value of all items totalled almost $361,000. Targeted and planned offending. No gratuitous damage to property or stolen items.
Offender – on CCO at time of offending, prior convictions for property and dishonesty offences, 31 y male, depression, drug use, letter to court, family support, character references, homeless, reasonable prospects of rehabilitation, remorse
Andreou-Luca
[2016] VCC 195 / 22 February 2016 / Custodial / 38 months (3 years and 2 months)
NPP - 19 months (1 year and 7 months) / Theft (rolled-up); Obtaining financial advantage by deception (rolled-up);
and
Attempting to obtain a financial advantage (aggregate sentence - 3 years).
Failing to answer bail (3 months). / G / Offending – Over 6 month period in 2003, O obtained $391,500 by deception from CBA by creating false documentation to support 34 fraudulent credit card applications. On 2 occasions the applications were refused. O made cash withdrawals in the sum of $49,550 from the falsely obtained credit cards at CBA branches in Victoria. Significant role in sophisticated and sustained fraud. O failed to answer bail in 2014 as he absconded to Queensland.
Offender – Prior dishonesty convictions, subsequent dishonesty convictions for similar offending, imprisonment more burdensome due to serious health issues, 58 y male, totality.
Ludwig [2017] VCC 744
Offender 2
Offender 1 located in Burglary / 9 June 2017 / Custodial / 36 months (3 years)
NPP – 24 months (2 years)
36 months (3 years) licence disqualification / Theft x 5 (18 months x 2, 12 months x 2, 3 months)
Making a false police report (1 month)
Possession of a drug of dependence ($500 fine) / G (early) / Offending – One night, O1 and O2 stole a vehicle to assist in carrying out burglaries and thefts. O1 used the stolen vehicle to ram a factory door to gain entry, and then stole two vehicles and equipment. O2 arrived and the offenders drove the vehicles away.
A few days later, O2 stole another vehicle.
The first stolen vehicle was discovered abandoned with O2’s identification documents and a bag containing 2g of methylamphetamine. O2 made a false report to police that his mother’s car had been stolen with his wallet in it.
Offender – intoxicated at time of offending, prior convictions for endangerment, property and drug offences, 31 y male, drug use,dysfunctional childhood, poor prospects of rehabilitation, lockdown, billet, character reference
Ditloff
[2016] VCC 614 / 13 May 2016 / Custodial / 36 months (3 years)
NPP – 20 months (1 year and 8 months) / Theft x 47 (aggregate sentence – 3 years). / G / Offending –O re-sentenced pursuant to s104 of Sentencing Actdue to misapprehension of s44 of Sentencing Act. Compensation orders made.
Offender – Male, drug problems.
Chen [2017] VCC 735 / 1 June 2017 / Custodial / 36 months (3 years)
NPP – 20 months (1 year 8 months) / Theft x 4 (2 years, 18 months, 11 months, 9 months)
Knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime (12 months)
False Accounting x 4 (9 months x 4) / G (early) / Offending – O was employed by a company (V) and over 4 years stole computer hardware and software, valued at $557,018.58. O would also log onto the accounting system remotely to conceal the thefts by altering the inventory stock account and creating false credit notes.
The computer products were then onsold online through a company set up by his de factor wife and used for his own computer products business. O used the money to purchase property.
Police searched O’s house and discovered many quantities of cash in envelopes and plastic bags totalling $451,904, alleged to be the proceeds of sale of computer products. Breach of trust.
Offender – no prior convictions, 36 y male, major depressive condition, obesity, generalised anxiety disorder, alcohol use, character reference, family support, psychological conditions leading to increased custodial burden
Levy [2017] VCC 837 / 20 June 2017 / Custodial / 36 months (3 years)
NPP – 20 months (1 year 8 months) / Theft x 2 (2 years 6 months, 1 year 6 months)
Dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime (3 months) / G (early) / Offending – O worked in a distribution centre for electrical products. O stole stock from the centre over eight months and resold it to other people or online, and after a short time directly to a reseller.
Police searched O’s storage units and seized records which documented sales to third parties and the reseller of $275,965, as well as a car purchased with the proceeds. O had a gambling problem and was motivated to pay it off.
Offender – prior convictions for driving offences, motivated by financial need, depression, gambling addiction, financial support to family, depression, suicidal ideation, risk of deportation, reasonably good prospects of rehabilitation, mental health issues leading to increased custodial burden
Pinwill [2017] VCC 266 / 16 March 2017 / Custodial / 33 months (2 years 9 months) imprisonment
NPP – 17 months (1 year 5 months) / Theft (x4);