Anthony Leao-Seve sentenced over salmon theft

There’s taking things home from work and then there’s this. A man swiped almost $12,000 of fish from his workplace, all while ‘helping’ police get to the bottom of the fishy business.

Anthony Leao-Seve pleaded guilty to the salmon theft in Campbelltown Local Court. Picture: Facebook

A salmon swindler who stole a total of 500kg of fish from a processing plant in Ingleburn assisted with police inquiries into the theft all while hiding his own involvement.

Minto man Anthony John Leao-seve, 32, was arrested on December 23, following extensive inquiries by Campbelltown Police after they were notified by the executive of the Huon Aquaculture plant in Ingleburn in December.

Anthony John Leao-seve stole $11,850 worth of fish from his work. Picture: Facebook

Court documents state senior management of Huon Aquaculture noticed the large deficits in profits missing from the factory in early December, sparking an internal investigation by the CEO.

Leao-seve was a full-time employee at the time, driving forklifts and loading trucks during his 6am-2pm shifts Monday to Friday, with an “extensive knowledge of the systems used by Huon to account for stock holdings”.

Throughout his shifts, the father-of-five “removed salmon from the premises with no intentions of paying for the goods” with court documents saying he took more than 30kg per shift.

Over time it increased to more than 150kg per shift and had a wholesale value of between $450 and $2250.

In total, Leao-seve stole a total of 20 boxes weighing 25kg with Huon Aquaculture pricing it at $11,850.

Minto man Anthony John Leao-seve, 32, running out of Campbelltown Court. Picture: Lauren Ferri

Just days before his arrest on December 20, Leao-seve provided police with information into what was going on at the production plant.

He supplied police with a two-page statement indicating he was aware of large volumes of salmon being removed from the processing plant that was not being processed and paid for in the usual way, according to police facts.

“The accused knew the salmon was being stolen … he did not implicate himself at this time,” court documents state.

Leao-seve on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of stealing property from his employer.

In sentencing, Magistrate Shane McAnulty told Leao-seve he must have known he was doing the wrong thing.

“At the end of the day, it’s a betrayal of your employer’s trust,” he said.

“I understand people take things home occasionally, but when you start taking home the quantity you did the business suffers.”

Magistrate McAnulty said it was a “slap in the face” of Leao-seve’s employer.

Leao-seve was sentenced to 15 months in prison to be served in the community by way of intensive correction order.

The 32-year-old father must keep up good behaviour and complete 175 hours of community service work.

An internal audit showed the company was missing hundreds of tonnes of salmon with 600kg of product unaccounted for each day.

All five people accused of being members of the sting have been fired.