- Managing director Mitchell Koroneos was right to suspect that increased overheads from poker machines were partly responsible for his Victorian hotel chain struggling financially in recent years.
But Mr Koroneos was unaware those overheads were loose change compared with the almost $8 million his trusted administrative manager Wendy Hope Jobson stole to gamble on pokies online.
The employee of 16 years with the Koroneos Group whom he had regarded as reliable, confident and friendly, who never made mistakes, had taken the money over almost five years until a year ago.
After police arrested Jobson and said her banking records indicated the amount taken, she responded: “Gee, that’s scary. I didn’t know that.”
She admitted she absolutely just fell into two internet games, including one called Doctor Love, “and I would just lose myself”.
When one officer conceded she might not have been aware how much she had gambled, Jobson replied: “No wonder they (the internet gambling site) thought I was a good customer.
“God help me. Does Mitchell know it’s that amount?”
Detective: “He does now.”
Jobson, 50, of Werribee, on Tuesday pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court to more than 1400 charges of theft.
Mr Koroneos – whose company runs four hotels – said he never suspected Jobson and thought the financial problems stemmed from renovations and increased bank fees and poker machine overheads.
Jobson’s position allowed her access to the group’s 12 bank accounts from which she transferred money into her account.
Jobson was bailed to appear next month in the Supreme Court – Steve Butcher
