A former Tasmanian accountant has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for stealing $1.44 million to fund his gambling addiction.
James Redmond Burrows pleaded guilty to 23 counts of fraud, 43 counts of computer-related fraud, three counts of stealing, 28 counts of false data insertion and 16 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Over a period of four years and three months, Burrows stole money from 25 clients and the Australian Taxation Office to bet on various forms of gambling, including horse racing and sports betting.
At the time, Burrows was the sole owner of JRB Accounting in Launceston.
Between November 2015 and February 2020, amounts from $1,050 to $298,633 were stolen, with close to $200,000 taken from the ATO.
Burrows had a separate account named the “fraud account” where he deposited clients’ funds and it is unlikely that the stolen money will ever be repaid.
Burrows was sentenced to at least four years and three months in prison before he becomes eligible for parole by Justice Robert Pearce in the Launceston Supreme Court on Friday,
“All of the money dishonestly obtained was gambled away or shuffled around accounts to replace other money which had been gambled away,” Pearce said.
Justice Pearce described the offending as “sophisticated” and “devious”.
“The offending took place while you were conducting, apparently competently, a busy practice as a chartered accountant,” he said.
“You knew what you were doing was wrong. You knew you had a problem well before the offending even started but did nothing to address it.”
The court heard Burrows had a long history and a “family culture” of gambling.
“You were conditioned to gaming and gambling from a young age,” Pearce said.
Even after Burrows found out police were investigating him, his offending and gambling did not stop until April this year.
