A grandmother has been jailed after admitting stealing $4 million from a company to fund luxury cruise trips and a gambling addiction.
Maree Wilson, 68, was sentenced to at least three years behind bars in Victoria County Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a string of robbery charges.
He diverted funds from family business Stosius Constructions to his own bank accounts between 2014 and 2021 while working as an accountant.
The court heard the fraudster spent at least $500 a day to feed her slot machine addiction while also wasting money on a series of overseas holidays and shopping trips.
Her profligacy came to an end after her transactions were flagged in November 2021 and she admitted the fraud to the company director and her son.
Melbourne grandmother Maree Wilson (pictured) has pleaded guilty to defrauding a family construction company of more than $4 million while working as an accountant.
Wilson told the owners she was “glad it was done” and would wait patiently for police to arrive at headquarters.
He said the fraud began as a way to feed his gambling addiction before turning into an “indefensible” multimillion-dollar fraud.
The court heard Wilson had at times given some of the money to his children or charities while spending at least $50,000 gambling on several overseas cruises.
During an interview with police in October 2022, he said he “enjoyed (my) time and enjoyed what was happening.”
“Yes, of course (I knew what I was doing)… I didn’t think about it… I didn’t consciously think about it… I can’t explain it to anyone else,” Wilson said.
The court was told that Wilson had intended to tell the company’s directors on several occasions but “got cold feet”, according to the court. Herald of the sun reported.
When she was in the owner’s office, she blamed him, saying that “he should take more responsibility for the finances than before.”
While the fraudster waived her $15,000 compensation, the court also heard she had made no effort to repay the company.
He spent at least $50,000 gambling on several overseas cruises and at the same time burned at least $500 a day on slot machines.
Wilson had worked at the company for 14 years before starting the business that left the life of the owner’s family almost ruined.
The former director of Stosius Constructions believed that the company’s losses were due to his poor management and did not suspect that the trusted employee was a fraudster.
His “greedy and heinous” crimes left the company on the brink of collapse and caused relationships between family members to break down, victims told the court.
Judge Gabriele Cannon said Wilson was able to get away with stealing millions because of his “position of trust which you grossly violated.”
“You were a long-standing and trusted employee of the victim company, you knew it was a family business and it deliberately stole from you again and again,” Judge Cannon said.