Murray Bridge finance manager Nathan Williams jailed for stealing over $800,000 from company and clients

A South Australian finance manager has been hit with a hefty jail term for his shocking acts of betrayal after he stole over $800,000 to fuel his gambling addiction.

A Murray Bridge finance manager stole a total of over $800,000 from multiple victims to fuel his gambling addiction, a court heard.

Nathan Luke Williams, 40 was jailed for over seven years for his shocking acts of betrayal which remained undetected for years.

During sentencing, the District Court heard Williams stole a total of $883,850 from six victims between 2019 and 2022.

The court heard Williams stole $769,843 from his then employer, Mid Murray Support Service Incorporated, a not-for-profit organisation which provides services to people who receive NDIS funding.

Williams, who was employed by MMSS as the finance manager, started stealing money from them in 2019.

Nathan Williams was jailed for over seven years. Photo: File

The co-ordinator, Annette Dempsey was informed of unusual bank activity in early 2021 and also received calls from creditors that they were not being paid.

After an investigation it was discovered Williams was responsible for multiple fraudulent transactions which resulted in MMSS moneys being diverted into accounts.

“Fortunately, MMSS was able to recover the balance of the stolen funds from their bank and insurance company,” Judge Jane Schammer said.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Dempsey detailed how she suffered significant distress that MMSS would no longer be able to operate.

“Ms Dempsey feels very strongly that you used your own personality and charisma to take advantage not only of her, but your work colleagues, family and friends,” Judge Schammer said.

The court heard Thomas Sithole employed Williams as his bookkeeper for his two companies between 2019 and 2021.

Williams stole over $60,000 from him through deceptive methods, including not transferring over tax refunds owed to him.

He also stole various sums of money from other victims who employed him to act as their tax agent, despite his registration lapsing in 2018.

Williams pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft and deception.

The court heard Williams had breached a good behaviour bond for multiple counts of theft, consisting of when he stole over $5000 while he was the treasurer of the Murray Towns Cricket Association.

Judge Schammer said she accepted Williams’ offending occurred in the context of his pathological addiction to online gambling.

“You had easy access to MMSS funds and you used those funds thinking that, with your next win, you could refund the money,” she said.

The court heard Williams was motivated to abstain from gambling for the sake of his wife and children and had repaid some of the victims.

Judge Schammer sentenced Williams to seven years and eight months jail, with a non-parole period of four years.

“It goes without saying that all of your victims trusted you implicitly,” she said.

“The offending represented a gross breach of trust.”

The sentence was backdated to October 12, 2023.

Originally published as Murray Bridge finance manager Nathan Williams jailed for stealing over $800,000 from company and clients