Pink diamonds, high-end art: Deloitte director racks up $2.7m in fake work expenses

A former Deloitte director who claimed $2.7m in fake work expenses to splurge on luxury items, including pink diamonds and high-end art, was “chasing sugar hits” after a relationship breakdown, a court has heard.

Former Deloitte director Paul Quill leaves the County Court. Picture: Diego Fedele

An accountant at one of Melbourne’s top firms splurged almost $3m on high-end art and luxury items, including rare pink diamonds, before tricking the company into reimbursing him for the extravagant purchases.

Paul Quill, 45, was a director at Deloitte Australia when he claimed almost 400 sham work expenses between August 2018 and February 2022 to the tune of $2.7m in an elaborate scheme designed to fund his “impulsive” purchases.

He fronted the County Court on Thursday where the extent of his “out-of-control” offending, in the wake of a relationship breakdown, was laid bare.

Quill leaves the County Court with his lawyer Philip Dunn KC. Picture: Diego Fedele

The court heard Quill was chasing “sugar hits” when he spent $786,000 on bespoke jewellery from Camilla Gough and almost $1m on artwork and sculptures from galleries including Sullivan + Strumpf in Sydney, Linton & Kay in Perth and Adrian Sassoon in London.

He also spent $44,000 on watches from online marketplace Chrono24 and $27,000 at luxury retailers Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent.

More than $76,000 worth of loose Argyle pink diamonds – considered one of the most coveted diamonds in the world – were among his lavish purchases.

Prosecutor Lauren Gurry said Quill had a “significant level of autonomy” as a senior member of the firm, which meant his offending went undetected for three and a half years.

The court heard he would upload sham invoices to business platform Concur after manipulating genuine invoices from third-party suppliers to look like they were for work expenses.

More than $76,000 worth of loose Argyle pink diamonds were among the purchases. Picture: Jerad Williams

He would label the expenses as “search and filing fees”, “postage/couriers” and “stationery/external printing/copying” to avoid detection and fabricate emails from a firm partner, who would purport to approve the expenses.

It is understood he paid for most of his purchases with his corporate AMEX card, which he was personally billed for monthly.

“In total, Mr Quill made 368 separate claims for reimbursement from Deloitte for expenses that were of a personal nature and unconnected … to his employment,” Ms Gurry said.

Before 2018, his expense reimbursements were less than $10,000 per month, but by January and February 2022 his reimbursements totalled a staggering $200,000 per month.

Quill pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception after dozens of charges he was facing were rolled up.

Clutching a tissue, he bowed his head and closed his eyes during the plea hearing.

He was supported in court by his mother and father, who he lives with in southern Queensland, and his two sisters.

Quill spent $1m on artwork and sculptures from galleries including Sullivan + Strumpf in Sydney. Picture: David Flack

His defence lawyer Philip Dunn KC told the court his client became a “hoarding magpie for psychological reasons”, describing his behaviour as “mad” and “out of control”.

“He deeply regrets and is remorseful for his conduct,” he said.

“This man is punished for life for his offending.”

Strangely, he said, some of the items were never unwrapped by the fraudster, simply stored at the back of his Richmond home and in a Kennards storage unit.

Forensic psychiatrist Andrew Carroll told the court Quill was in “psychologically damaging” relationship with a man and subjected to coercive control before they broke up in 2019.

“He was quizzed (by his partner) about what he was spending money on and didn’t really have much autonomy of their shared finances,” he said.

Dr Carroll said he believed Quill’s offending gave him a “sense of control” that he lacked during the relationship as he fell into an “addiction cycle”.

The court heard he also suffers from body dysmorphia and depression.

He spent $27,000 at luxury retailers Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent. Picture: Andrey Rudakov

Mr Dunn said his client has no prior criminal convictions and spends his time volunteering “to right the wrongs”, but conceded he must prepare himself for prison.

One of Quill’s sisters said he broke down in tears when he confessed his crimes to her.

“I didn’t want to be doing this,” she recounted him telling her.

“I didn’t know how to stop.”

He was busted in early 2022 when Deloitte’s finance team conducted a routine audit and found a suspicious expense claim.

A search warrant was executed at his Richmond home in April 2022 and more than 100 items were seized.

He was fired that same day.

But the court heard many of the items sold by Deloitte to claw back its losses had depreciated over the years, forcing Quill to hand over some of his personal belongings and even household items to pay the company back.

Quill, whose bail was extended for the final time, will be sentenced by Judge Samantha Marks on April 15.

Originally published as Pink diamonds, high-end art: Deloitte director racks up $2.7m in fake work expenses