Periclis Telios, 41, of Bentleigh, pleaded guilty to one count of theft after admitting stealing $224,008.49 from his daughter’s kindergarten association between February and October in 2012, in order to feed his gambling habit. Now he faces four years in jail.
County Court Judge, Carolyn Douglas, said on July 30 that Telios had breached the trust other parents had placed in him when he was elected president of the Ward Avenue Kindergarten Association, as reported in the newspaper The Age.
Telios, who is married with two children, admitted he had a gambling addiction for more than 25 years after he was taken to a casino in Tasmania, and needed help only after his arrest, the judge said.
She accepted he was remorseful and that his offending was motivated by his need to pay off his gambling debts, not greed, The Age reported.
“In your position in the kindergarten in a local community referred to as grass roots you held a position of trust and responsibility with the organization, which consisted of other parents of children in the area most of whom you and your family knew, and until these matters came to light you were regarded as a trusted and responsible person who was relied on to carry out the duties of the president of the kindergarten responsibly,” Judge Douglas said.
“The aggravating features of your criminal behavior are the large amount which you stole, the length of time over which you stole the money, the number of transactions and the breach of trust which your employer had reposed in you,” the judge continued.
“I accept that you have been punished by the fact that you live among the people you have adversely affected and have been reminded of your offending directly. Your family has also suffered because of this matter and had to move house and a decision has been made not to send your young daughter to the local school because the families continue to express anger towards you,” the judge explained.
Telios, who had past convictions for dishonesty, was elected the association’s committee president in November 2011 when there were no other candidates, according to The Age.
Telios began withdrawing money from the association’s operating bank account since February 1 in 2012. By mid 2012, it had become apparent to the treasurer and other committee members that the association had insufficient funds in its operating account to pay regular bills and expenses.
The fact that the association’s bank accounts were empty was discovered on September 27, after a number of committee members went to the NAB branch in Clayton and were advised so.
“The losses started coming. I started panicking like crazy and the more I was losing, the more I panicked,” Telios said.