Shepparton’s Dwayne Antojado pleads guilty to falsifying invoices

A Shepparton crook who stole from his boss while on bail has put his criminal history to good use by using it as research for his law PhD.

A Shepparton man falsified invoices and dishonestly obtained more than $9000 from his employer.

A Shepparton thief who falsified documents to steal more than $9000 from his employer has put his chequered past to good use by using it as research for his law PhD.

Dwayne Antojado pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to three counts of falsifying documents and two counts of dishonestly obtaining money, totalling $9411.

In March 2022, Antojado replaced BSB and account numbers on three tax invoices, redirecting money meant for his employer Gouge Linen and Garment Services to his own personal account.

One of the tax invoices was for the reimbursement of items he had paid for with his credit card.

The court heard he was on bail at the time of the offending.

Defence lawyer Jack Cleveland said Antojado had since made a “seismic turnaround of personal circumstance”.

He said Antojado was completing a law PhD and used his lived experience as a previous offender to guide his research.

The court heard Antojado’s research explored rehabilitation and prison.

Dwayne Antojado pleaded guilty to five charges in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Mr Cleveland said Antojado had taken “significant steps” in rehabilitation, had not committed any offences since and had “fully turned his life around”.

Antojado repaid the money to the business and was convicted and fined $5000.

Magistrate Olivia Trumble said it was a “relatively lenient” sentence after taking a number of factors into account including the significant delay and his plea of guilty.

She said if she had sentenced him closer to the date of offending she would have taken a different view.

“It’s a credit to him that he is using his previous experiences as inmate and offender to educate other people and educate himself,” she said.

Ms Trumble said the offending was “somewhat unsophisticated” and always going to be discovered.

She said the financial penalty would “hurt”.

“Your offending carries a significant breach of trust of your employer and those types of cases are considered in different light because of that trust,” she said.