James Burrows: Jailed Launceston accountant says he ‘stole most from those that trusted me most’

A Tasmanian accountant jailed for gambling away $1.4m in client and ATO funds admitted to saving his most rapacious offending for those closest to him, a court has heard. What happened in court.

Launceston Supreme Court. Picture: Patrick Gee

A Tasmanian accountant jailed for gambling away more than $1.4m worth of client and tax office funds admitted to investigators he stole most of the money from clients he was closest to because they “trusted [him] the most”.

Former Launceston man James Redmond Burrows, 38, who relocated to Melbourne in the wake of his offending, which was committed between November 20, 2015 and February 11, 2020, learnt his fate on Friday in Launceston Supreme Court.

Burrows, the former director of JRB Accounting, was ordered by Justice Robert Pearce to serve a minimum of four years and three months behind bars of a seven-and-a-half year head sentence.

Last month, Burrows pleaded guilty to 113 fraud-related offences covering 300 “separate acts of dishonesty”.

Burrows fraudulently obtained $1,449,364.70 for himself, the lion’s share of which, $1.26m, was stolen from his “personal and business clients,” Justice Pearce said.

Former Launceston James Redmond Burrows, 36, has been remanded in pre-sentence custody. Picture: LinkedIn

Burrows’ modus operandi was to plunder income tax and other tax refunds due to his clients, the court was told.

“In a deliberate and thoroughly dishonest way you simply helped yourself to this money by withdrawing it yourself or by transferring it into other bank accounts controlled by you,” Justice Pearce said.

“You covered your tracks by making false entries in your own records, in client records and in bank transfers. When clients queried transactions you lied about the true purpose of the transfers and payments.”

Another form Burrows’ offending took was using his clients’ details to lodge fraudulent income tax returns and business activity statements, securing for himself additional payments from the Australian Taxation Office.

The court previously heard the money was spent on Burrows “chasing his losses” in an attempt to win back money he had gambled away.

Justice Pearce said that Burrows’ offending was aggravated by its “sophisticated and devious” nature, and also its length of time, including while investigations into his conduct were ongoing.

“Tellingly, you told the police in August 2019 that you stole most of the money from the clients you were closest to because they trusted you the most,” Justice Pearce said.

“The victim impact statements from two of those clients reflect the profound impact your dishonesty had on their lives not only in financial terms but extending to their psychological and physical health.

“Their stories are repeated in various ways and to various degrees for the rest of the clients who were affected.

“None of the almost $1.5m you stole or dishonestly obtained has been repaid and there is little prospect that you will ever have the means to do so.”

Jail ‘inevitable’ for gambling accountant who lost clients $1.4m

Earlier, August 1: A former Tasmanian accountant who gambled away more than $1.4m of client funds over a five-year period has been remanded in pre-sentence custody ahead of a Supreme Court decision on how long he will be jailed for.

Former Launceston man James Redmond Burrows, who now lives in Melbourne, the former director of JRB Accounting, pleaded guilty in Launceston Supreme Court on Monday to 113 fraud-related offences.

At the conclusion of sentencing submissions on Tuesday, Justice Robert Pearce said that a term of actual imprisonment was “inevitable” and he remanded Burrows in pre-sentence custody to next appear on August 11, when Justice Pearce will hand down his decision.

Burrows’ offending occurred between November 2015 and February 2020 and involved the defendant diverting his clients’ entitlements, such as income tax and franking credit returns, to his own accounts.

The court heard on Tuesday that even after an investigation was commenced by organisations including Tasmania Police and the Australian Taxation Office, Burrows continued to intermittently defraud clients.

Defence counsel Cameron Scott submitted to the court that his client’s “moral culpability” was lessened by a perfect storm of mental woes that included major depressive disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and compulsive gambling.

He said that Burrows was “chasing his losses in the hope he would recoup money to repay his clients” and that the offending occurred in the context of an “extremely profound” mental illness.

Mr Scott said that Burrows illustrated his remorse by entering pleas of guilty, saving a lengthy and complex trial (although pleas of not guilty were initially entered); helping his victims find new accountants to help salvage their financial affairs; co-operating with the multiple investigations into his dealings; and by writing a letter of apology to his victims and the court.

Follow @humidityreport

Justice Robert Pearce countered that the letter was “self-serving” and that the further offending while investigations were taking place was “inconsistent” with remorse.

Mr Scott said that Burrows was in a new, supportive relationship – his marriage dissolved in the midst of his offending as the marital home was repossessed – had found employment, where he performed tasks such as data entry “under supervision,” and that he had a “strong protective network around him”.

Crown prosecutor Simone Wilson told the court that while she did “accept there should be some reduction in moral culpability, [there] must have been a degree of choice to gamble and to steal”.

Originally published as James Burrows: Jailed Launceston accountant says he ‘stole most from those that trusted me most’