Dallas Riccardi, 23, pleads guilty to theft from ex-workplace
A magistrate has slammed a thieving AMX Superstore employee after he faked depositing over $4000 in cash and lied with a “nonsense” excuse to his manager.
Geelong
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A young pokie fiend has stolen thousands of dollars from his workplace to fund his gambling addiction.
Dallas Riccardi, 23, pleaded guilty to theft in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Riccardi was tasked with taking cash bags from his workplace at the AMX Superstore in Geelong to the bank on November 20 last year.
He was given three cash bags totalling $4.201.65.
Days later, the store manager was notified that the cash was not deposited in the bank.
On December 1, Riccardi, who had worked at the store for 12 months, was quizzed by his store manager as to what happened to the cash.
Riccardi said he did deposit it, and that he had receipts in his car.
“I did not steal the money,” Riccardi told his employer.
He was suspended from work with pay.
Riccardi was unable to produce the receipts and was fired from his job, eventually admitting he stole the cash.
The court heard Riccardi had a gambling problem with poker machines at the time of the theft, which left him with significant debts.
Magistrate Franz Holzer said the lie about having the receipts was a “nonsense” excuse.
“To put it truthfully you are a thief,” he said.
“It is just plain dishonest.”
Riccardi, who has a new job working on a production line, told Mr Holzer he had not yet told his new employer about his crime.
Mr Holzer urged him to be honest with his new boss.
“It is your mess, you need to clean up your own mess,” he said.
“You have to take responsibility.”
Riccardi, who was supported by his partner and parents in court, was ordered to pay back the money he stole.
He was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order where he will need to undertake 100 hours of community service.
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Originally published as Dallas Riccardi, 23, pleads guilty to theft from ex-workplace
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