Former Byron taxi driver Gregory Rodney Watson pleads guilty at Byron Bay Local Court to embezzlement
A Northern Rivers cab driver was caught using his own eftpos terminal to embezzle money, a court has heard.
Police & Courts
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A Byron Bay taxi driver has been sacked after he was caught on CCTV embezzling his employer by pocketing cash and charging passengers using his own eftpos machine.
Gregory Rodney Watson was let go by Byron Bay Taxis after he took money from the business over three days, Byron Bay Local Court heard.
The “remorseful” 47-year-old fronted the court on Monday, pleading guilty to embezzlement.
The driver of six years made 13 trips and six of them were paid for through the personal eftpos terminal on the first day of offending on January 8, 2021, police state in court documents.
The terminal was linked to Watson’s personal bank account named Ballina Taxi Transfers.
Payment for two more trips on the day were also pocketed.
The next day, Watson completed 19 trips and 11 payments were made to his account, with one cash payment pocketed.
On the third day, Watson completed 17 trips and three payments were made to his account.
He pocketed one cash payment and overcharged a customer $30.
In total, Watson embezzled $612.
“These funds were not reimbursed to Byron Bay Taxis,” police state.
The taxi company launched an investigation after noticing missing money.
“The business owner reviewed the CCTV footage and reported Watson to police,” the documents state.
Police went to Watson’s Ballina home and he admitted to the offending.
“(Watson) stated he is the owner of the eftpos terminal and did not reimburse Byron Bay Taxis, nor did he have any intention to reimburse them,” police state.
“He was cooperative and compliant. He was remorseful for his actions.”
Defence lawyer Tom Ivey told the court Watson bought the eftpos machine a long time ago and did not obtain it “for the purposes of this offending”.
“Watson is receiving psychological treatment and is remorseful,” he said.
Magistrate Karen Stafford said: “It was clearly not a spontaneous theft. There was a degree of planning involved and it was a serious breach of trust.”
“Your offending was over a three-day period when you were a taxi driver and used a machine where the money went to your account,” she said.
“You were well aware the money was going to yourself. The cash was a lot harder to track.”
Ms Stafford said she was not sure why there had been a significant delay in the case.
She convicted Watson and sentenced him to a 12-month community corrections order.
He was also fined $1000, and the taxi business has been seeking compensation.
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