A 50-year-old Millthorpe man who pleaded guilty to creating more than $50,000 worth of false loans yesterday told Bathurst Local Court he had no idea what happened to the money.
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Stephen John Besgrove, of Pilcher Street, Millthorpe, was sentenced to two years in prison by magistrate Roger Prowse.
He had pleaded guilty to creating false loans on behalf of City Finance and then presenting cheques drawn on those loans on 28 occasions.
The offences occurred between March 10, 2011 and August 8, 2011 when Mr Besgrove was a regional manager of Dominion Securities, trading as City Finance.
Police allege the status of the loans had been altered to avoid raising any red flags.
Mr Besgrove, who was unrepresented, told Mr Prowse he admitted he carried out the offences, but couldn’t remember doing it and didn’t know where the money had gone.
The magistrate asked why Mr Besgrove did not have a lawyer and he said he couldn’t afford one. The magistrate then asked if Mr Besgrove had accessed Legal Aid and he said his wife earns too much money.
Mr Prowse asked him if he could think of any reason why he shouldn’t be sent to jail, and Mr Besgrove said that he could not.
“Neither can I,” Mr Prowse said.
The magistrate said this was a calculated crime carried out over a long period of time in which Mr Besgrove stole the identities of 26 people.
“One of these people rang and complained, which led to the house of cards falling over,” Mr Prowse said.
“If I’d snaffled $51,000 I’d have some idea where it went.”
Mr Besgrove said it was his understanding that the cheques were written out to cash and he had presented them to the National Australia Bank.
“It’s all very sketchy – I went off my meds because I thought I was alright,” he said.
He said his mental state kept deteriorating until he was walking around in a daze. He was ultimately hospitalised.
“On 28 occasions you presented cheques obtaining $51,300 in cash that you weren’t entitled to. You did this by securing a position at this company,” Mr Prowse said.
“On March 10, 2011 you created the first dodgy loan and then continued to escalate until August 8, 2011 when finally someone at head office was tipped off.
“Twenty six of the 28 loans used the names and details of real people. You obviously got them from somewhere.
“Those 26 people may now well have an adverse notation against them. The fact is you have stolen the identity of these people.”
Mr Prowse said the offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and he considered this was in the mid range in terms of seriousness.
