A 54-year-old Vincentia woman has been jailed for more than five years for embezzling $1.5 million from a world-renowned South Coast surfing family.
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Sharon Maree Hatton was arrested at her home on March 31 and charged with 749 offences.
Ms Hatton told Wollongong District Court on Thursday that she had been a trusted and loyal employee of the Wright family.
She paid invoices and provided secretarial services for the family plumbing business, before being granted authority to manage the Wright children's bank accounts.
When it became clear her scheme would be uncovered, she phoned Owen Wright to confess.
"I'm sorry, I've been gambling.
"I've f----ed up.
"Please don't tell anyone ...I haven't told my husband Craig yet," she said.
When he asked her if he was the only victim, she said yes but please don't tell anyone.
Owen's suspicions had been raised by what appeared to be over-payments to his builder from one of his 11 accounts.
On May 28, 2020, he asked Hatton to investigate.
Hatton had set up two IMB accounts to transfer money from the Wrights' accounts to her own to sustain her gambling habit. Over 10 years she embezzled about $1.5 million.
Owen had identified some of those payments as being suspicious and Hatton decided to come clean.
"I was sick of leading a double life.
"The addiction had taken over ... I didn't feel like I could stop ... it had a hold.
"It sickens me to think of the damage I've done," she said.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Owen Wright said: "The offending has affected me not just economically but emotionally.
"False accusations were being made within the family about where the money had gone ... we started to turn on one another.
"I now experience anxiety and issues with rage.
"I can't trust my own judgement with people in my life," he said.
In her victim impact statement his mother Fiona said: "I had trusted this person to assist my children.
"It's heartbreaking and despicable," she said.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Andrew Haesler said only prison could meet the purpose of her offending.
"Ms Hatton was calculated and continued to feed her gambling addiction with the earnings of her employer ... but even when she won she didn't return the money.
"She described herself as sincere, and valued respect and integrity, but her actions show she did not stand by this herself.
"She was aware that things would end badly but would not detour from her course," Judge Haesler said.
Hatton was sentenced to five years and six months in jail with a non-parole period of three years.
She has been ordered to pay $647,000 in compensation to the Wrights.
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