A GAMBLING addicted accountant put more than $2 million of stolen money through 10-cent poker machines, it was claimed yesterday.
Defence barrister Richard Backwell told the County Court Werner Kaeser, 53, played the poker machines only at the Dandenong Club.
Although his client gambled and lost a huge sum he received no "high roller" perks and was left penniless and out of work, he said.
Kaeser, of Rowville, pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft and 10 of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Kaeser admitted taking the money from his employer, water pump company Onga, in a seven-year spree.
The offences were committed at Onga's Notting Hill headquarters between October 1994 and July 2001.
But prosecutor T.P. Burke said he found it hard to believe that Kaeser had managed to gamble such a huge sum on 10-cent machines.
Mr Backwell said that Kaeser's poker machine obsession worsened to the point where he was unable to break the cycle of theft and gambling.
He told a pre-sentence plea hearing that Kaeser became desperate to get caught so the cycle would be broken.
Kaeser would walk out of jail with the clothes on his back and nothing else. "He has absolutely nothing to show for the $2.14 million. He has no assets, no Swiss bank account, no swish lifestyle," Mr Backwell said.
"He has lost his job, lost his career, lost his wife, lost the family home and lost his reputation. And he knows he will lose his liberty."
Mr Backwell told Judge Sue Cohen that unlike gamblers at Crown casino, Kaeser did not receive perks like limos, free meals or accommodation.
Ms Kerri Judd, a barrister for Onga, made a successful restitution order for $2.14 million against Kaeser but accepted it was unlikely the company would receive any money.
Mr Burke said the crimes were systematic but simple and Kaeser used his position as a trusted accountant to carry them out.
He had transferred company funds into a social club account and then made out cheques of $2000-$8000 to himself.
Judge Cohen said she would sentence Kaeser on Friday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6463989%255E421,00.html
Defence barrister Richard Backwell told the County Court Werner Kaeser, 53, played the poker machines only at the Dandenong Club.
Although his client gambled and lost a huge sum he received no "high roller" perks and was left penniless and out of work, he said.
Kaeser, of Rowville, pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft and 10 of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Kaeser admitted taking the money from his employer, water pump company Onga, in a seven-year spree.
The offences were committed at Onga's Notting Hill headquarters between October 1994 and July 2001.
But prosecutor T.P. Burke said he found it hard to believe that Kaeser had managed to gamble such a huge sum on 10-cent machines.
Mr Backwell said that Kaeser's poker machine obsession worsened to the point where he was unable to break the cycle of theft and gambling.
He told a pre-sentence plea hearing that Kaeser became desperate to get caught so the cycle would be broken.
Kaeser would walk out of jail with the clothes on his back and nothing else. "He has absolutely nothing to show for the $2.14 million. He has no assets, no Swiss bank account, no swish lifestyle," Mr Backwell said.
"He has lost his job, lost his career, lost his wife, lost the family home and lost his reputation. And he knows he will lose his liberty."
Mr Backwell told Judge Sue Cohen that unlike gamblers at Crown casino, Kaeser did not receive perks like limos, free meals or accommodation.
Ms Kerri Judd, a barrister for Onga, made a successful restitution order for $2.14 million against Kaeser but accepted it was unlikely the company would receive any money.
Mr Burke said the crimes were systematic but simple and Kaeser used his position as a trusted accountant to carry them out.
He had transferred company funds into a social club account and then made out cheques of $2000-$8000 to himself.
Judge Cohen said she would sentence Kaeser on Friday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6463989%255E421,00.html
