A Victorian man who was sucked into an elaborate international investment scam believed the con artists were his friends when he transferred almost $1 million of Tabcorp cash to them.
Anthony Morahan, 66, was managing director of cash transporting business Phoenix Security Group, which collected money for Tabcorp and other businesses.
The business would collect Tabcorp's cash and then either transfer it into Tabcorp bank accounts or send the float back to racecourses.
In late 2015, Morahan received a cold call from scammers and was sucked into a con where he believed he was investing in overseas sharemarkets.
After speaking on the phone to Filipino scammers, who were pretending to be stockbrokers, over several months he began to believe they were social contacts or friends.
Morahan transferred his own money to the conmen, but they made him feel as though he needed to keep putting in money to protect his original investment and status as an investor.
Over 11 days, between May and June 2016, Morahan stole $971,649 of Tabcorp's money and transferred it to the international scammers.
When his business partner noticed the money was missing, he asked Morahan who assured him he was investing in overseas shares and there would be "solid returns" that could help build their business.
However, the partner quickly became suspicious and searched the names of the stockbrokers on Google, finding there were several worldwide alerts that they were scammers.
Once Morahan realised he could not transfer Tabcorp the $971,649 he owed, he told management about what had happened, offered to make good on any losses and eventually paid the company back $1.4 million.
He was sentenced to six months in prison for the theft in Melbourne's County Court on Friday.
Judge Gerard Mullaly said Morahan was "naive and delusional" to have become wrapped up in the scam.
"In the end your motivation for investing and then using Tabcorp money to try and dig yourself out of the hole is also bewildering," he said.
He found Morahan's psychological issues, caused by a traumatic background, made him vulnerable to the scammers.
Judge Mullaly handed him a three-year community order, requiring 300 hours of community work and mental health treatment.
