Joseph ‘Joe’ Fisher convicted of defrauding Samios Plumbing Supplies in court

A dodgy tradie who rorted $50,000 from a Melbourne plumbing business, blamed his offending partly on being forced against his will to get a Covid vaccine for work.

Joseph 'Joe' Fisher leaving Heidelberg Magistrates' Court.

A tradie and dad-of-three rorted almost $50,000 from a Melbourne plumbing business, partly blaming his offending on being forced against his will to get a Covid vaccine for work.

Joseph ‘Joe’ Fisher, 48, fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to fraud related charges.

The 48-year-old was working for Samios Plumbing Supplies, a wholesale business in Thomastown in early 2022.

Joseph 'Joe' Fisher.

The court heard in February 2022, Fisher collected $45,000 in cash from a roofing business.

The next month, in March 2022, he collected another $3700 in cash from the roofing company after they made a separate purchase from Samios.

The delivery of the products were arranged and the details of the payment was recorded in a handwritten ledger.

Fisher’s scheme came unstuck not long after he finished working for Samios in March 2022.

Joseph 'Joe' Fisher leaving Heidelberg Magistrates' Court.

Fisher’s former general manager conducted an audit on the company expenses and discovered certain invoices were not collected, the court heard.

Samios narrowed its focus to Fisher after contacting the roofing business and being told cash payments had been made for the orders.

The court heard Fisher was going through a “horrific time” when he committed the offences. His father died that year and his wife had an emergency caesarean after she almost died during childbirth.

The court also heard Fisher had been “forced against his will” to receive a Covid vaccine for work.

Magistrate John Bentley convicted Fisher and sentenced him to a 12-month CCO.