By Tara Cosoleto, AAP
A Victorian man swindled close to $2 million from an 82-year-old to fund his multi-million dollar gambling addiction.
Brian James Wilson, 54, befriended the man in 2018 after finding out he sold his $1.6 million home in Melbourne’s southeast.
Between October 24, 2018 and 6 September, 2019, Wilson convinced the man to invest in a number of his fake business ventures, showing him false contracts and promising to share his profits.
Those ventures included selling cleaning products to Metricon Homes and the Brimbank City Council, and water jet cutting machines to others.
The 82-year-old also gave Wilson an $18,000 car loan, with the understanding he would receive the money back.
Over the 11-month period, the victim sent $1.929 million to Wilson in smaller bank transfers.
Wilson’s scheme unravelled in mid-September 2019 when the 54-year-old refused to pay back the car loan despite repeated pleas from the victim.
It was then that the 82-year-old showed one of the false contracts to his partner who determined it was fake and the pair made a statement to police.
After an initial interview in November 2019 where Wilson denied any wrongdoing, investigators accessed Wilson’s bank records and betting accounts.
They found Wilson had used the funds from the victim to place bets on gambling websites Tabcorp, Sportsbet, Beteasy and Ladbrokes.
Between August 2018 and November 2019, Wilson spent a total of $18.241 million on gambling.
The victim, who is now 86, told the County Court he never would have given Wilson the money if he knew it would disappear.
He was totally devastated and would never recover, the man said in his written statement.
Wilson on Wednesday sat quietly at the back of the court in Melbourne after pleading guilty in April to nine charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and two charges of obtaining property by deception.
His lawyer asked the court to adjourn the plea hearing so he could obtain psychological material about Wilson’s gambling addiction.
But Judge Trevor Wraight was concerned about further delays given the offending happened four years ago and the victim was in his late 80s.
The defence counsel said it was accepted Wilson would go to jail but a psychological report would better inform the court on the length of the prison sentence.
Judge Wraight adjourned the plea hearing to November, extending Wilson’s bail.
