Man stole $800k from Employer to Give to Prostitute

Rukesh Sadhai, aged 49, of Melbourne, Australia, was jailed for two years and four months after he stole more than $800,000 from his employer to give to a prostitute.

He became infatuated with her and stole the money to pay off what he mistakenly believed was a hefty sum she owed to dangerous criminals.

Sadhai had pleaded guilty to four counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception after stealing $838,780 from CoINVEST, a construction payroll company, in 36 transactions between March 2012 and May 2013.

His lawyer, Phillip Dunn QC said his client’s “unusual” theft was driven by his love for the prostitute, who told Sadhai she was working off a debt she had incurred by migrating to Australia.

Mr Dunn explained: “The unusual features [of this case] start to creep in when we realise that the offending occurred during a precise period of time when his father was dying, that his marriage was failing, and unfortunately for him, he’d fallen head over heels in love with a sex worker.

“It was his understanding that she had inherited debt.

“She was a Korean student [who] had to work as a prostitute in order to repay the inherited debt.”

Sadhai said the woman took the money so she would no longer have to be a sex worker.

The money was paid into five different bank accounts of her choosing.

Mr Dunn said: “None of the money came to him, all the money went somewhere else.

“Men are like children in many ways and particularly in affairs of the heart, and quite simplistic in some ways.”

Police responded that he “might be being scammed”.

Sadhai told police that he was saving the woman and that he loved her.

Sadhai first falsely claimed that CoINVEST owed a construction employee $21,633.24 in unpaid long service leave in March 2012, which he funnelled to a personal account.

He then made similar claims for $65,001.06, $385,400.71 and $366,714.55 over the next year.

Sadhai realised he might be the victim of a scam when the woman continued to work as a prostitute even after he had given her hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Dunn said: “That was met with arguments and the sudden severance of the relationship.”

Judge Richard Maidment said: “The penny dropped.”

Mr Dunn replied: “With a big thud.”

Judge Maidment told Sadhai:

“Your gullibility and stupidity do not reduce your moral culpability.”

“Your conduct represented a very substantial and deplorable breach of trust… and exhibited an exploitation of your intimate knowledge of the financial controls.”

Judge Maidment criticised the delay in the investigation but said it had provided Sadhai with an opportunity to begin his rehabilitation.

He said: “Mr Dunn has pointed out in his written submissions, there’s a serious detriment in one sense, to him, but on the other hand, [there] is the opportunity of getting on with his rehabilitation and proving himself capable of not just staying out of trouble, but turning his life around.”

The judge said that while Sadhai had good prospects of rehabilitation and was highly unlikely to ever re-offend, the scheme he devised to cover his tracks required “considerable care and planning”.

He added: “You continued offending for more than 13 months and you had constant opportunity to consider the scale of criminality and the repercussions of your conduct.”

The County Court of Victoria heard that Sadhai repaid CoINVEST $100,000 while his mother paid the company $500,000.

Sadhai was jailed for two years and four months.

He must serve at least one year and four months in prison before being eligible for parole.