$18m man a painter
was an absolute fool,” says Stephen Versalko of the period in his life when he stole $17.8 million, spending large chunks of it on prostitutes and fine wine.
It cost him his career as a banking professional, his liberty, his standing in the community, the family home and his wife, Megan.
Now Versalko is working as a painter in the Auckland area, a far cry from the high-flying lifestyle he enjoyed when working as Remuera branch manager for the ASB Bank.
The theft was revealed in the Herald on Sunday in 2009, before the Serious Fraud Office had laid the charges which would send Versalko to prison.He was sentenced to six years for the theft and served a minimum four years before being granted parole.
“I trained in prison to be a painter and that’s what I’m doing now... I Jackson’s neighbourhood row just want to get on with my life and be a good man.”
The business Versalko started after his release from prison in 2014 has done well, according to those who know the former banker. He is based in the Auckland area and focuses on contracts in his wider neighbourhood.
One former client, who hired Versalko for a painting and decorating job, said he had done a good job and they wouldn’t hesitate to hire him again. - David Fisher