Dylan DiPierdomenico jailed for nine months over $140,000 fraud

Dylan DiPierdomenico, the son of AFL great Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico, has been jailed for fleecing $140,000 from his former employer, with the judge saying it was “troubling” he had not paid the money back.

Dylan DiPierdomenico has been jailed for nine months for a $140,000 fraud. Picture: Ian Currie

The son of AFL great Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico has been jailed for fleecing $140,000 from his employer to fund his gambling addiction.

Dylan DiPierdomenico, 42, was sent to prison for nine months in the County Court on Thursday for defrauding his former employer, MGI Golf.

On his release, he will have to complete a two-year community correction order, which will include 200 hours of unpaid community work.

DiPierdomenico’s legal team had pushed for him to avoid jail, saying he was remorseful for his deceitful actions, and had turned his life around.

But Judge Richard Maidment said his offending, which involved 71 fraudulent transactions, totalling $140,716, between August 2018 and June 2019, warranted time in prison.

“You used your position of trust to manipulate the system so as to have monies due to the company for sales, made under your watch, to be paid into accounts controlled by you,” Judge Maidment said.

“Each gambler thinks the next big win is going to get them out of jail, effectively – and cover their tracks in terms of the dishonest conduct.”

Dylan DiPierdomenico has been jailed for a $140,0000 fraud. Picture: Ian Currie

The elaborate 10-month scam involved DiPierdomenico funnelling customers’ money into his own bank account through fake PayPal accounts and doctored sale invoices.

He was only caught out after his boss, Carrie Edwards-Britt, noticed some anomalies on the books.

An internal audit discovered he had secretly paid back $18,000 of the money while still working for the golf supplies company.

Judge Maidment said it was “troubling” DiPierdomenico had not paid back a cent since he was sacked.

“You’ve had five and a half years to pay some of the money you obtained dishonestly,” he said.

He ordered DiPierdomenico pay the remaining $122,550.20 he stole.

Dylan is the son of AFL great Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico. Picture: Dylan Burns

DiPierdomenico pleaded guilty to a single rolled-up charge of obtaining property by deception.

He earlier told the court he had hit “rock bottom” and that his actions would be “something I’ll forever be sorry for”

“It’s a wonderful family business and I betrayed their trust,” he told the court.

“There’s not a day where I don’t think about how I affected that business.”

He said that he was committed to repaying the stolen money to the Nunawading-based company.

Ms Edwards-Britt, in reading out her victim impact statement in court, said he deserved to go to jail, describing how the family business had been betrayed by his deceit.

“This was planned, vindictive, and calculated – it wasn’t a one-off,” she said.

“He saw he could get away with it because we trusted him.

“He abused our trust and good nature – and used our business as a place for him to profit from without any consideration for the people he was hurting.”

“To us, jail time will hopefully give him time to think about his actions and how they have affected our family and business.”

She said at a time when they should have been growing their business, they instead had to go into damage control.

DiPierdomenico was not supported in court by his father, a star Hawthorn player and AFL Brownlow medallist who became a footy commentator after he hung up his boots in 1991.