Man pilfered $103,000

Funds fuelled online gambling addiction

ON PAPER Tablelands Agri Services was a growing Atherton company – but behind closed doors, business manager David Lloyd Johnson had ravaged the accounts to the tune of $103,000 to fuel his online gambling addiction.

Johnson, 44, was found guilty by a Cairns jury of two counts of fraud and will learn of his fate next month.

Johnson had pleaded not guilty to the charges and stood trial in Cairns District Court this week.

He yesterday took the stand in his own defence and told the court he thought he “was entitled” to use the money for personal expenses.

“I assumed it was company money, my partner was using it for personal items, I assumed I could use it as well,” Mr Johnson said.

Earlier in the trial co-director Zane Micola Von Furstenrecht said shareholder loans were set up through their accountant, Neville Perkes.

The court heard Johnson had transferred company money into his private accounts as shareholder loans in 2016 and 2017.

At the time Johnson was a shareholder and director of the company,

He told crown prosecutor Aaron Dunkerton that he had not read the agreement that required him to seek the agreement of other shareholders before drawing the loans.

“You signed a legal document and claimed you did not know or care to read it,” Mr Dunkerton said.

Accountant Neville Perkes gave evidence about the consequences to the company of the embezzlement.

“The company did not have sufficient funds for the loans,” Mr Petzler said.

A May 2017 valuation of the company revealed a grim picture.

“Because there was no profit it had no tangible value,” Mr Petzler said.

“Effectively the company was worth nothing – the company shares were worth zero dollars.”

He said that at a shareholder meeting Johnson “appeared nervous and jittery”.

“I have known him to be a calm and happy person – his mannerisms were not similar to what I had noted previously.”

Johnson has been held in custody pending sentencing.