A phoney car salesman who diverted revenue of nearly $50,000 to himself and stole several cars from his employer has had his wish to accelerate sentencing rejected, with a magistrate saying his offences were "too serious".
Steven Mac was working at Lennock Motors in Phillip when he committed the offences in separate incidents during August and September of 2021, a statement of facts tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday reads.
The highest trade-in valued car the 36-year-old stole was a $44,000 Volkswagen Golf that a customer had swapped for a $69,500 BMW 2 Series.
After the dealership realised the Golf was missing in the car yard, checks with the ACT Road Transport Authority showed Mac had transferred the car's ownership to himself.
The largest financial amount he took from his employer was $26,000 when a customer bought a $50,000 Ford Ranger, with the customer receiving a trade-in allowance of $24,000 for his Audi A5.
Mac had sent his personal banking account details, which he purported to be those of Lennock Motors, to the customer to transfer the outstanding amount.
After the money came through, Mac put the Audi under his name.
Another incident involved the offender, whose listed address is in Bossley Park in NSW, getting a customer to pay him nearly $19,000 in cash for a BMW X3.
The brakes were put on his run of thefts and fraudulent ways after he stole a Mazda 3, worth $16,000, from his employer and drove it across the border.
NSW Police found and arrested him after the dealership noticed the vehicle was missing.
The facts state compensation of about $110,000 will be sought.
Mac fronted court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and two of obtaining property by deception.
He was initially self-represented and said "plead guilty" after magistrate Louise Taylor asked him what he wanted to do with the charges.
He said he had not had legal advice and that "I have been incarcerated for six months" in NSW after driving the 2018 Mazda to Sydney.
When the offender asked about whether the case would proceed to sentencing on Tuesday, Ms Taylor said "no, [the offences] are too serious".
The case was stood down on the court list while he spoke with a Legal Aid lawyer, who subsequently said the pleas were maintained.
Ms Taylor ordered a pre-sentence report, which is to include an assessment of Mac's suitability for a community-based order.
Mac is set to front court again on August 31 for his sentencing, which is expected to take one hour.
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