Gambling degenerate Adam Crowe jailed for Melbourne River Cruises and onQ Plumbing fraud thefts

A gambling Gisborne junkie who stole more than $1.5 million from two employers laid a bet the day he told a judge he’d quit the punt.

A gambling junkie — who got on the punt while in court — stole more than $1.5m from two employers to bet large at the Casino, Sportsbet and Bet365.

Adam Crowe, 44, was sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to a 42-month minimum jail term after pleading guilty to multiple fraud offences.

Crowe rorted $711,968 from former employer Melbourne River Cruises via 163 transactions between September 2014 and February 2017.

The fraudster pleaded guilty to that offending at a County Court plea hearing heard in October 2020.

Crowe told the court he ceased gambling once his offending was discovered, deleted his betting apps and claimed to have joined Gamblers Anonymous sessions.

Crowe’s submissions may have resulted in a reduced sentence.

However, it emerged Crowe, who also pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, never ceased gambling and actually placed a bet on the day of his plea hearing.

The shock revelation came after the Herald Sun published a story covering Crowe’s Melbourne River Cruises fraud, the court was told.

Crowe’s most recent employer onQ Plumbing was shocked to learn of their former bookkeeper’s skulduggery via the media.

The court heard Crowe quit onQ just days before his plea hearing, telling the company he had a “personal family issue” and had to “leave to go interstate”.

onQ General Manager Gerard Misquitta did some digging and found “discrepancies” with the Craigieburn company’s accounting records.

Crowe funnelled $791,586 from onQ’s coffers to his personal bank accounts between December 2017 and September 2020.

Analysis of Crowe’s bank accounts revealed the degenerate transferred $399,654 to Bet365 and Sportsbet between October 2017 and October 2020.

Crowe also withdrew $122,440 cash.

The court was told, during the 2020 plea hearing, Crowe gambled most of his stolen Melbourne River Cruise cash at Crown, at the TAB and various other betting apps.

Crowe bet during work then wandered to the Casino after his shift.

Crowe, a father of five, also picked up a dangerous cocaine habit after his marriage hit the skids.

The Gisborne dad was racking coke “several times a week”, the court heard.

Crowe, who has spent a shade under three years on remand, was jailed for a maximum six years.

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