Perth Magistrates’ Court.
Camera IconPerth Magistrates’ Court. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Man jailed over forged invoices, company cards misuse

Nadia BudihardjoSouthern Gazette

AN employee has received jail time after being found guilty of stealing nearly $85,000 from his Kewdale-based workplace.

John Calabrese (42) was sentenced to 14 months’ jail for stealing from Austin Engineering at Perth Magistrates Court on Monday after pleading guilty to four charges of stealing as a servant and 13 charges of gaining benefit by fraud.

During his time as a cost controller, Calabrese misused four different company credit cards within 21 months to steal more than $71,000.

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Calabrese also forged invoices between April 2013 to November 2017, gaining more than $13,000 by fraud.

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Camera IconImage Credit: Supplied/Supplied

The court heard that Calabrese was under considerable work pressure at Austin Engineering, had lower back problems and was addicted to illegally obtained pain medication, which he could not afford.

However, Magistrate Greg Smith said he would not hand down a suspended sentence because he couldn’t accept that all the money was being used for his medication habit.

“Mr Calabrese had a responsible financial position in the company for a long period of time,” Mr Smith said.

“It seems to me in this case, because of the seriousness of the offending, it is not appropriate to suspend the sentence even with a first time offender.”

Calabrese was facing two years in jail but the magistrate reduced it to 14 months with eligibility for parole because of his early plea of guilty.

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