An Armaguard employee has been jailed for stealing more than $60,000 from money he collected from Brisbane businesses.
Jack Herbert Ridgewell, 45, of Yamanto west of Brisbane, will serve 11 months of a three and a half year sentence for siphoning the funds from his former employer.
He pleaded guilty today in the Brisbane District Court to two counts of stealing as a servant and one count of attempted stealing as a servant.
The court was told Ridgewell stole a total of $61,749 from the Bribie Island Hotel and the Strathpine branch of the National Australia Bank in early 2007.
He was employed by Armaguard to collect money from the premises and transfer it back to the company's headquarters for processing.
The court was told he would distract the duty manager at the hotel and then undercount the envelopes containing the cash.
Once in the van, he would then steal the envelope that had not been accounted for during the initial count.
The court was told he would also place false seals on transfer bags, which he would replace with official tamper-proof seals once he had taken the money.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller said Ridgewell was caught undercounting the envelopes on CCTV cameras at the hotel, and then stealing the envelopes on security cameras placed inside the van.
He initially denied any wrongdoing but later admitted to taking the money.
The court was told he spent it on maintaining his lifestyle.
Judge Milton Griffin described the offence as one of "enormous dishonesty" that had breached Ridgewell's position of trust.
In sentencing, he took into account that Ridgewell's former position as an employee of the Department of Corrective Services would make his time in jail more difficult than normal.
Judge Griffin ordered Ridgewell repay the full amount of money, which he did today.
