Raby’s Bradley Sheriff sentenced for embezzling money from Officeworks Gledswood Hills

An Officeworks employee stole more than $20,000 by processing fake refunds across a four-month period - justifying the crimes to himself by thinking the stolen money was what he deserved to be paid.

Bradley Sheriff has been sentenced after he slowly stole more than $20,000 from his employer Officeworks.

An Officeworks employee who embezzled more than $20,000 justified his criminal behaviour to himself by thinking the money he stole was what he deserved to be paid.

Bradley Sheriff, 33, was sentenced at Picton Local Court after he pleaded guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

Court documents state the Raby resident was employed as the Officeworks Gledswood Hills co-ordinator, where he had worked for 13 years, which meant he had the authority to issue refunds.

On 32 occasions over four months in 2022, Sheriff issued himself refunds on two separate cards using his details stored on his phone or his smartwatch.

He issued 22 transactions worth $11,106.52 and 10 transactions for $13,891.68 onto a different card. A loss prevention officer conducted investigations, and CCTV showed five occasions where Sheriff processed the refunds.

Bradley Sheriff leaving Picton Local Court.

Sheriff admitted to a manager what he had done and later to the police. According to a report submitted to the court, Sheriff rationalised his behaviour by telling himself his “financial benefit was comparative to the salary he deserved to be paid”.

The report also states Sheriff attributed his offending behaviour to a combination of adverse factors in his life, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on his work conditions and reduced income.

Lawyer Carolyn Shiels said her client was a husband and father with Asperger’s and ADHD.

She admitted it was “a very planned system” and Sheriff had breached the trust of his employer but noted he did not have a criminal record and had already started to pay back the money.

Magistrate David Degnan said he was not “impressed” with the excuse Sheriff gave that was in the report.

“Most of these people [who commit this crime] go to jail,” he said. “I’m not going to do that. I’ve stepped back from that because of the plea of guilty and because of the effort to pay back the compensation.”

Sheriff was convicted, fined $2000, and placed on a two-year community correction order. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and pay Officeworks back the amount in full.