County Court: Coles executive Aaron Baslangic done for fraud

A high-flying Coles executive has crashed to earth after he stole close to $2m from the corporate giant to fund a lavish lifestyle including blowing cash on rental properties.

Aaron Baslangic still owes Coles $615,000 from the nearly $2m he siphoned.

A former Coles executive was struggling with mental health issues at work before siphoning nearly $2m from the corporate giant to fund a lavish lifestyle that included loading up on luxury retail brands.

Aaron Baslangic fleeced Coles by making 14 fraudulent transactions between January and July 2019 into multiple bank accounts — the biggest sum in a single transaction being more than $413,000.

He was sentenced at the County Court on Tuesday to three and a half years’ jail, with a minimum of 20 months

Baslangic had earlier pleaded guilty at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to two charges of obtaining property by deception, and single charges of obtaining financial benefit by deception and falsifying documents.

Baslangic, of Sandringham, siphoned the stolen money into his eight personal bank accounts through a variety of methods, including creating fake emails from his supervisors to authorise payments to a fictitious business, and to real estate and car companies.

The court heard that the offending occurred between January and July 2019, while Baslangic He was working as the head of strategic initiatives for Coles Online and had authorisation to make external payments of up to $75,000 but could make bigger payments with supervisor permission.

Aaron Baslangic still owes Coles $615,000 from the nearly $2m he siphoned.

Baslangic splashed the cash on rental properties, a lease on a BMW car and on retail goods from luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo, Cartier and Louis Vuitton.

He did not stop his offending until he was discovered by Coles, who connected the suspicious transactions totalling $1,978,550 to his personal bank accounts.

Baslangic has paid back $1,313,634 to Coles but still owes $615,000.

Originally from Turkey, he was discharged from the military in his home country on medical grounds, moved to Australia in 2011 and started working with Coles in 2014, after gaining an MBA.

His lawyer Steve Anger said Baslangic has seen a forensic psychologist and was taking a number of medications, including antidepressants.

His offending occurred over a short period of time and a substantial sum of the stolen money was recovered, he submitted.

Judge Duncan Allen said a combination of circumstances, extreme financial and work pressure, and issues at home heightened at the time of Baslangic’s offending.

A psychiatric told the court Baslangic became distressed and tearful, felt dirty, and suffered from ongoing anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts.

He is now separated from his former wife who became unwell after he began working at Coles, and Baslangic struggled with her expectations and was unsuccessful at attempts to find her treatment.