John Borovac of Carrara guilty of fraudulently taking $500,000 from QSuper account

A court has heard remarkable details about the lengths a Gold Coast gambling addict went to in order to siphon more than $500,000 from his partner’s superannuation account.

A RETIRED engineer who siphoned more than $500,000 from his partner’s superannuation account was charged by police after he was caught impersonating the woman over the phone.

John Borovac, 68, fraudulently obtained withdrawals from QSuper between August, 2015 and June, 2017 to fuel his alcoholism and a gambling addiction, Southport District Court was told.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley said the victim’s account was “completely depleted”.

Borovac forged his partner’s signature and transitioned her into “being permanently retired”, resulting in a payout of $285,339, the court was told.

The Carrara man’s offending was “significant and serious” and a “clear breach of trust”, she said.

Borovac faced court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to two counts of fraud and one count each of attempted fraud, forgery and uttering, personation in general and uttering a forged document.

“The defendant had an authority to make inquiries over his partner’s QSuper superannuation account,” Ms Coley said.

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“On six occasions in that period, over that 22 months, he induced QSuper employees to ultimately take payment from that QSuper account into a joint account in his name and (his partner’s) name.”

Borovac forged his partner’s signature and transitioned her into “being permanently retired”, resulting in a payout of $285,339.

He also accessed his partner’s online QSuper portal and “followed that up with requests over the phone”.

“During which he effected a female-sounding voice and he pretended to be (his partner) to have that succeed,” Ms Coley said.

Borovac was sentenced in Southport District Court. Picture: Scott Fletcher

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Borovac tried to withdraw $48,000 but “on that occasion the person who he spoke to at QSuper became quite suspicious, they reported it and it was investigated internally”.

When QSuper tried to contact Borovac’s partner, he attempted to impersonate her again and police were contacted.

Borovac’s partner told QSuper she did not request the withdrawals, but she “did not wish to provide a complaint” to police.

Ms Coley said Borovac transferred $20,000 of the money to his partner and likely spent some of the money on shared expenses.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren said: “(Borovac’s partner) later became aware that about $300,000 was spent on gambling.”

Borovac’s criminal history contained one count of fraud in 2010, when he used another person’s bank card to withdraw $1780 at a casino, she said.

Defence barrister Bernard Reilly said Borovac was a former engineer who did an extensive amount of voluntary work, “to an extent that’s rarely ever encounter before the court”.

Mr Reilly handed up psychological reports and a letter from Borovac’s long-time partner.

“He’s battled alcoholism and gambling problems most of his life, but for the vast bulk of that life he’s been a productive, hardworking, beneficial member of the community,” he said.

Judge Rosengren sentenced Borovac to four years jail, suspended after eight months.