'No money left': Man stole $220k in three months to fund online bets
The Supreme Court in Hobart has heard online gambling has been "the primary cause of problems" in the man's life. He'll spend six months in prison after pleading guilty to 20 charges relating to the theft from Salmon Tasmania.
A Tasmanian man, Christopher Lee William Ford Brown, stole over $220,000 from his employer within a span of three months to fuel his online gambling addiction, according to a court hearing. Brown, who was employed as an administration officer at Salmon Tasmania, set up multiple bank accounts to transfer the funds, which were subsequently gambled away on platforms such as Sportsbet, Bet365, and Neds.
He pleaded guilty to 20 offenses, including 15 counts of fraud, and was sentenced to six months in prison with the remainder suspended. Brown was required to self-exclude from all forms of gambling following his release. He had made false bank account details and omitted to provide invoices to Salmon Tasmania's bookkeeper, KPMG, to facilitate the theft.
Four months after commencing the job, Brown disclosed his theft to the CEO, Luke Martin. He was subsequently dismissed, and KPMG conducted an audit. The incident was reported to Tasmania Police. Brown had a history of dishonesty offenses related to his gambling addiction, and this was his third such sentencing. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which exacerbated his vulnerability to online gambling.
Despite this, Brown acknowledged his issues and received treatment and counseling. The court acknowledged his self-reporting as a mitigating factor in sentencing, despite the severity of his actions, which involved a significant sum of money and a breach of trust.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written; read the original for the full account.
