A Vision Express worker was caught stealing more than £75,000 from the company in a staggering fraud case.
Ravinder Saini, 33, was ordered to pay just £300 in compensation to his former employer after siphoning the money to fund his gambling habit.
He took the money while working at the company's head office at Ruddington Fields Business Park in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire.
Saini handled invoice payments to key suppliers and for the collection of funds owed to Vision Express, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
The store development administrator had asked for refunds to be paid to bank accounts not belonging to the company and used letter headed paper with his own bank details.
This was done on 14 occasions and he used his own account on 12 of those, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
The total loss was around £75,680 and the payment into his account was £56,535.
The fraud went on for more than a year and a half – between March 2017, and December 2018.
It came to light when other employees chased refunds to the companies and the companies stated the payments had been made.
The employees then checked the bank details and discovered they were Saini's.
Prosecutor Leanne Summers said Saini, of Wollaton, Nottingham, admitted the offence.
"He said he had a gambling addiction," she told the court.
"He said, at the time of the offending, he was drinking a lot and abusing over the counter drugs."
A financial investigation delved into his assets and was concluded on Tuesday.
Investigators found the total recoverable amount, with interest, determined at £82,552 from a joint benefit figure of £136,868.
Saini's realisable asset was £300 while his co-accused was dealt with separately by the courts and ordered to pay £290 compensation, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
A judge said the order should contain a phrase to read: "£82,552 of the recoverable amount specified in this confiscation order represents a benefit received" by the defendant and a co-accused.
Their finances were looked at under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which looks at money or assets gained by criminals while undertaking criminal activities and money laundering.
Saini has a previous conviction for a low-value theft at the age of 19.
Stephen Tettey, defending, previously told the court his client's mental health appeared to be a trigger to his gambling.
In 2016 and 2017, Saini started to experience auditory hallucinations and he got support in 2018, long after the offences began.
"It was a psychotic episode," Mr Tettey said.
"The defendant was hearing voices. He was trying to block out these voices".
Upon sentencing, Recorder Richard Davis said: "It is not just any offence of fraud. It is an offence of fraud of breach of trust.
"You were employed in a responsible position for Vision Express for a long period of time – some 18 months".
Saini had siphoned more than £56,000 into his bank account and an additional £20,000 into another.
The court heard Saini had suffered from mental health issues and he had seen a number of letters from the NHS that supported that position and the sort of mental health issues he is battling.
"That led you to having a gambling habit," Mr Davis said.
"The fraud was to fund your gambling habit which resulted from your ill health.
"I have read character references from family members and others. I have noted you were volunteering during the Covid crisis and committed significant hours to your unpaid volunteering.
"You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and made a full confession to police at an early stage".
Mr Davis imposed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and said "there is strong personal mitigation".
He added: "This came out of ill health, rather than greed" adding "there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation that has started".
A six-month curfew was also imposed.
