Pet shop manager busted for $8k fraud

A former Darwin pet shop manager has faced court for refunding customer purchases into his own account, totalling almost $8,000 in stolen funds.

Michael Depold has pleaded guilty to obtaining benefit by deception.

A FORMER Darwin pet shop manager has faced court for refunding customer purchases into his own account, totalling almost $8,000 in stolen funds.

Michael Depold pleaded guilty in Darwin Local Court to obtaining benefit by deception during his time working as an area manger for pet store franchise Petstock.

The court heard Depold made 19 separate fraudulent transactions between August 2017 and September 2018 at the Petstock store in Berrimah, which involved Depold refunding the cost of a customer’s purchase into an account in his name.

The fraudulent transactions totalled $7703.

Depold’s conduct was eventually discovered after an internal audit by Petstock’s loss prevention team found discrepancies with his use of the refund system.

A representative from the company alerted police.

The court heard staff members of the store also tried to question Depold after the audit, at which point he resigned and refused to co-operate with an internal investigation.

Depold was arrested and questioned by police in November last year but he refused to explain his conduct. He was later charged and then released on bail.

Depold’s lawyer Peter Bellach appeared in Darwin Local Courtcourt on his client’s behalf last week.

It comes after concerns were raised by the prosecution in a previous court hearing around the authenticity of a letter of reference Depold provided for sentencing.

“He’s (the referee) not here, but I do have some verification of identity that goes someway to establishing that he is a real person and not a made up, fictitious person which I think was the suggestion on the last occasion,” Mr Bellach said.

Mr Bellach also said he would seek reports as to Depold’s suitability for home detention.

“I recognise that Mr Depold is at risk of actual custodial sentence.”

The case will return to court at a date to be set.