Maree was a bookkeeper at a family-run construction firm. Little did the owners know she was committing the ultimate act of betrayal to fund her luxury trips and gambling addiction
A grandmother has been jailed after admitting she robbed a company of $4 million to finance luxury cruise trips and a gambling addiction.
Maree Wilson, 68, was sentenced to at least three years behind bars in the County Court of Victoria on Friday after pleading guilty to a series of theft charges.
While working as an accountant, she diverted money from family business Stosius Constructions into her own bank accounts between 2014 and 2021.
The court heard the fraudster spent at least $500 a day to feed her gambling addiction, while also blowing money on a number of foreign holidays and shopping trips.
Her spree came to an end after her dealings were flagged in November 2021 and she admitted the fraud to the company’s director and his son.
Melbourne grandmother Maree Wilson (pictured) has pleaded guilty to defrauding a family-run construction company of more than $4 million while working as an accountant
Wilson told the owners she was “glad it was done” and would wait patiently for police to arrive at headquarters.
She said the racket started as a way to feed her gambling addiction before turning into an “indefensible” multi-million dollar fraud.
The court heard that Wilson had sometimes given some of the money to her children or to charity, while she had spent at least $50,000 gambling on a number of overseas cruises.
During an interview with police in October 2022, she said she “enjoyed (my) time and enjoyed what happened.”
“Yes of course (I knew what I was doing) … I didn’t think about it … I didn’t consciously think about it … I can’t explain that to anyone else,” Wilson said.
The court was told that Wilson had intended to notify the company’s directors on a number of occasions but had ‘backed out’ Herald Sun reported.
When she was in the owner’s office, she instead blamed him, saying, “He should take more responsibility for the finances than he already was.”
Although the fraudster waived her $15,000 severance package, the court also heard she made no effort to repay the company.
She spent at least $50,000 gambling on a number of overseas cruises, while also burning at least $500 a day on the slots
Wilson had worked at the company for fourteen years before starting the racket, nearly destroying the lives of the owner’s family.
The former director of Stosius Constructions believed that the company’s losses were due to his poor management and did not suspect that the trusted employee was a fraudster.
Her “greedy and heinous” crimes left the company on the brink of collapse and led to fractured relationships between family members, the victims told the court.
Judge Gabriele Cannon said Wilson could get away with stealing millions because of her “position of trust which you have seriously breached.”
“You were a long-time and trusted employee of the victim company that you knew was a family business and from whom you deliberately stole again and again,” Judge Cannon said.