Fraudster jailed for swindling more than $220,000 from his employer

‘It does seem that, at long last, the offender has shown some remorse for the extensive deception in which he engaged.’

A man who defrauded his employer of more than $220,000 while managing the Darwin office of a national surveying company will spend at least two years and six months in jail.

A MAN who defrauded his employer of more than $220,000 while managing the Darwin office of a national surveying company will spend at least two years and six months in jail.

Warwick Bryant, 45, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to three counts of obtaining benefit by deception after admitting to the scheme in which he siphoned off client payments into his own bank account between February 2015 and September 2017.

The court heard Bryant deleted billing information relating to 134 Fyfe Solutions projects and instructed clients to pay their invoices into his own account instead.

CHILDREN’S commissioner backs call for harsher penalties for DV thugs

Justice Stephen Southwood said a victim impact statement submitted to the court revealed other management staff at the company spent more than $100,000 in man hours dealing with Bryant’s offending following his sacking in 2017.

Fyfe Solutions managing director Mark Daymon earlier testified that Bryant had shown no remorse for his crimes and continued to harass his staff after taking a job with a rival company with offices in the same building.

YOUTHS charged over string of brazen assaults across Nightcliff and Coconut Grove

But Justice Southwood said references submitted on Bryant’s behalf showed he had since expressed remorse to friends and family.

“It does seem that, at long last, the offender has shown some remorse for the extensive deception in which he engaged,” he said.

In setting a head sentence of five years with a non-parole period of two years and six months, Justice Southwood said there was no other apparent explanation for the fraud other than greed.

“No real explanation has been provided in this case as to what use was made of the money,” he said.

“It seems that the motivating factor was greed. The money was used essentially to enable the offender to live the lifestyle he was leading.”

CHEAPER than a cup of coffee*: YOUR NT News subscription delivers much, much more than you expect

Fyfe sought restitution for the stolen money but Bryant’s lawyer, Peter Maley, said he was not in a position to pay.