Country manager Matthew Lane to be sentenced for robbing Taiwan-based agricultural company of $350,000
A stressed country manager of an international agricultural company secretly funnelled $350,000 of company funds to fuel his gambling addiction.
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A fraudster who ripped off his workplace $350,000 turned to the “carefree environment” of gambling to deal with the pressures of his job, a court has heard.
Matthew Lane, 50, was harbouring a sinister secret while trusted by an international company with a significant responsibility.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court previously heard Lane was employed as the country manager of a Taiwan-based agricultural company with global offices in August 2015.
“The company deals with the distribution of agricultural chemicals … it’s a farming industry on a commercial scale,” the prosecutor said.
The court heard Lane, who was responsible for company finances and product distribution, was issued with a company debit card limited to business expenses.
The company requested sales reports from Lane in May 2016 and became concerned when Lane didn’t provide them and initiated an investigation.
“The investigation revealed significant discrepancies,” the prosecutor said.
Lane admitted that many of the transactions on the company card were for personal use and not legitimate business transactions.
The court heard there were a number of cash withdrawals and transfers directly into his personal bank account, as well as purchases at retail and grocery stores.
The prosecutor said the total amount of misappropriated company funds was $350,000 and the company was seeking compensation.
The court heard Lane also deceived Aussie Farmers Group who made two payments totalling $18,480 for farming chemicals.
Aussie Farmers Group believed they were transferring money to the company, however Lane had provided them with his personal bank account.
The Carrickalinga father-of-four pleaded guilty to 12 counts of theft, replacing the 323 originally laid by police.
During further sentencing submissions on Thursday, the court heard when Lane first started working at the company he found it was inexperienced in the Australian agricultural market.
Nicholas Kernahan, for Lane, said the farmers were discontent with their orders and his client found himself under a considerable amount of pressure and began drinking.
“He seemed to regress into gambling which provided him a haven from these pressures,” said.
Mr Kernahan pushed for a suspended sentence for Lane, saying he was in new employment and had received treatment for his gambling addiction.
The court heard Lane had given back to the community by acting as the football operations manager for various clubs over the years.
Magistrate Kym Millard will sentence Lane later this month.
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