A former Coles executive has been convicted of stealing $1.9 million from the national grocery company, but was ordered by a judge to undergo further psychological testing because of how absurd and unwarranted his actions were. County Court Judge Duncan Allen expressed surprise that Aaron Baslangic never tried to cover his tracks, he had no high ambitions for the money and left most of it in a bank account until he was discovered. At Coles Online, Baslangic was a financial executive with the authority to approve payments of up to $75,000, and as of early 2019, he arranged 14 illegal payments.
Aaron Baslangic Coles
They range in value from $10,000 to over $400,000. When payments exceeded the allowable threshold, he would change the emails to make it appear as if his supervisor had approved the transactions. Some of the payments involved transferring money to the Australian Revenue Office, which was subsequently diverted to their personal accounts, while most involved fake corporations with bank accounts in their names. In addition, he sent money to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a BMW dealership, and estate agents that he used to lease the property. At luxury stores like Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and others, he spent nearly $200,000.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of deceptively acquiring property, deceptively obtaining a financial benefit and creating a false document on Wednesday. Baslangic appeared in court via video link in prison attire and sat with his head down or with his hands up for most of the proceeding. He has already returned more than $1.3 million to his previous employer. Baslangic’s behavior, according to Judge Allen, was bizarrely rude, unusual and inexplicable. He commented: “Brashy is one term for that, horribly dumb is another. A student in his year 12 might have figured out where this money was going. His mother worked in a bank and his father was a journalist, the court was told, so he came from an educated home in Turkey.
After moving to Australia, Baslangic earned an MBA while still holding a degree in electrical engineering. Her wife had a degenerative condition that left her too sick to work at the time of her offense and, according to Baslangic, her marriage was disintegrating. She had some mental health issues, the court heard, but Judge Allen was shocked by what he called his extremely simple behavior, which was sure to show. He ordered Baslangic to undergo another psychiatric evaluation in the hope that a doctor can shed some light on the circumstances surrounding her crime and her current state of mind. On August 9, the matter will return to the judge. He therefore, stay tuned for PKB news.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn