Yvonne Scott, 71, and James Scott, 78, of Strathallan Rd, Lockington, pleaded guilty to four charges of theft and one charge of obtaining financial advantage by deception in County Court.
Despite separating in 2007, the couple continued to live together, running their small business Lockington Hooves and Paws from their rural property.
Ms Scott had worked as the office manager for real estate agency RT Edgars Portsea since 2002, and also worked for the Toorak branch until 2012 when the couple moved to Lockington.
The court heard Ms Scott continued running the administration and bookkeeping for the real estate agency from home, and between 2015 and 2018 stole $771,307.28 through 129 transactions into the couple’s banking accounts.
Furthermore, from April 2016 to March 2018, Ms Scott received $101,038.50 in WorkCover payments, claiming she could not work due to her mental state.
Mr Scott assisted Ms Scott to make the WorkCover claims, despite knowing she was still employed by RT Edgars Portsea.
Judge Wraight said the theft charges represented a “gross breach of trust” by Ms Scott, being a trusted long-term employee of RT Edgars.
He said Mr Scott was complicit in his wife’s offending in relation to the theft charges.
“Ms Scott transferred funds into your joint account, you assisted the bookkeeping and made joint decisions about spending the money,” he said.
In an interview with police in 2020, Ms Scott denied working during the time she was on WorkCover and said her husband did the work while she did “virtually nothing”.
When asked about the thefts from RT Edgar, she could not explain how they happened.
The court heard Ms Scott had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, with anxiety related to childhood and workplace trauma.
Mr and Ms Scott were both born in the Netherlands but are now Australian citizens, with Mr Scott moving to Australia when he was seven years old and Ms Scott relocating to Sydney after she finished school.
The court heard the couple had contributed to the community through organising charity events and fostering children.
Neither of the Scotts had a prior criminal record.
Mr Scott had been an accountant for 25 years and received the Centrelink Carer’s Benefit for the care he provided to Ms Scott.
He was diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder, and in a report submitted to the court, the doctor formed the view Mr Scott had schizoid personality disorder.
Judge Wraight took into account mitigating factors including their early plea, the delay between offending and the charges being laid in 2020, their low risk of re-offending and their age.
He also accepted that both showed a degree of remorse, and their physical and mental conditions would make imprisonment more difficult.
The couple was ordered to compensate the money and Yvonne Scott was sentenced to a total of three years’ imprisonment with an 18-month non-parole period.
James Scott was sentenced to two years and four months’ imprisonment and will be eligible for parole after 14 months.
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