Hardware company worker allegedly stole $1.8m through Eftpos transactions

A HARDWARE supply company worker on the northern beaches has been charged with defrauding his employer out of $1.8 million over four years.

A man who worked as an employee for 26 years was charged over defrauding his employer.

AN employee of a hardware supply company on the northern beaches has been charged with defrauding his employer of $1.8 million over four years.

The 60-year-old Blacktown man had been an employee of the company for 26 years but has since been sacked.

Northern Beaches crime manager Insp Craig Wonders said the company notified police after its staff discovered what they thought were discrepancies in company accounts.

He said the employee conducted Eftpos transactions for customers over the phone.

Insp Wonders said the man, who worked as a salesperson, would allegedly receive payments from a client but indicate different amounts of money in the company’s accounting system, so there was a growing discrepancy between the amount received from the customer and the amount shown in the company’s records.

Insp Wonders said that after being contacted by the company, detectives examined 136 Eftpos transactions involving the company and in which the employee allegedly played a role. Some dated back four years.

He said that after a complex investigation, the man was charged with 13 fraud offences.

The man was bailed and is set to appear at Manly Local Court on July 13.

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