Anthony Scott Wood, a 50-year-old former Brisbane lawyer, has been sentenced to 10 years' jail time after admitting to aggravated fraud and forgery.
Wood was previously a partner at one of Queensland's oldest law firms, Crouch and Lyndon lawyers, which according to its website prides itself on its traditional values. Unfortunately, Wood does not seem to have subscribed to these laudable principles. Between 2003 and 2008 he managed to misappropriate up to $8m of client funds through fraudulent transactions.
Wood started off by pilfering $200k from the account of a dead client which he used for his own 'unknown' personal use, according to a Courier Mail report. And over the next five years he was involved in up to 40 further fraudulent transactions. Wood forged documents in order to use clients' money to make a series of loans and - when these went bad - used money from other clients' accounts to cover the loss, creating a "snowballing" effect.
Wood was rumbled during a routine audit of his firm's accounts. Since then things have gone decidedly downhill for Wood who's been struck off the solicitors' register and declared bankrupt. And, whilst the judge accepted (somewhat perplexingly) that his conduct was "not a case of (personal) greed" he believed it warranted the maximum penalty - ten years in the slammer. Wood will be eligible for parole in three years.
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Wood was previously a partner at one of Queensland's oldest law firms, Crouch and Lyndon lawyers, which according to its website prides itself on its traditional values. Unfortunately, Wood does not seem to have subscribed to these laudable principles. Between 2003 and 2008 he managed to misappropriate up to $8m of client funds through fraudulent transactions.
Wood started off by pilfering $200k from the account of a dead client which he used for his own 'unknown' personal use, according to a Courier Mail report. And over the next five years he was involved in up to 40 further fraudulent transactions. Wood forged documents in order to use clients' money to make a series of loans and - when these went bad - used money from other clients' accounts to cover the loss, creating a "snowballing" effect.
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Some snowballing yesterday |
Wood was rumbled during a routine audit of his firm's accounts. Since then things have gone decidedly downhill for Wood who's been struck off the solicitors' register and declared bankrupt. And, whilst the judge accepted (somewhat perplexingly) that his conduct was "not a case of (personal) greed" he believed it warranted the maximum penalty - ten years in the slammer. Wood will be eligible for parole in three years.