An employee originally hit with hundreds of charges around the alleged $3 million fraud of a conservative political strategy firm has been jailed after admitting to stealing a much smaller amount.
Mohammed Saderuddin Syed, 49, began work at Crosby Textor Research Strategies as a casual employee in 2008 and was promoted to financial controller the following year.
He then became financial controller of the England-based parent company CT Group in February 2018 where he worked until he was made redundant later that year.
From 2012 to 2018, he stole from his employer by falsely claiming that he was entitled to certain payments.
His efforts to hide the fraud were initially successful and his crimes were only noticed in early 2019 months after he had left Crosby Textor.
Police initially hit Syed with 396 fraud charges relating to an alleged fraud of more than $2.9 million.
The 49-year-old was sentenced at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to only six charges for the theft of around $180,000.
Justice Nicole Noman said in a judgment that Syed had taken advantage of a firm where staff were "treated like family".
"He used his position as financial controller to exploit the victim company," she wrote.
"His offending represents a high level of breach of trust."
Syed had no obvious need to defraud, being financially well off with a significant salary and bonuses and did not have any alcohol, drug or gambling issues, the judge said.
While the 49-year-old had contributed to the community through volunteer work, Judge Noman said he had been living a "double life".
Crosby Textor managing director David Bell and founders Sir Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor previously gave evidence about the effect of their trust in their former employee.
Mr Bell told the court of the financial impact as well as the reputational damage the company sustained.
Sir Lynton, reading a statement by himself and Mr Textor, said they had nurtured Syed and his family, and had paid for his studies at Harvard Business School after he was made redundant to boost his qualifications.
"The harm occasioned is not merely reflected in the words," Judge Noman said.
"I observed Sir Lynton to become palpably upset as he read the statement."
Sir Lynton helped John Howard win multiple terms in Australia before heading to England to help the Tories in their campaigning.
Judge Noman jailed Syed for a maximum of four years and nine months imprisonment starting from Friday.
His non-parole period of two years and 10 months means he will be eligible for parole on August 24, 2027.
She found the 49-year-old had not shown any genuine remorse for his actions, describing the fraud to a clinical psychologist in September as a "drop in professional standards".
The former financial controller still owes Crosby Textor around $137,000 in stolen funds with the firm pursuing him to recoup their losses through a civil lawsuit.
