Man 'stole $290k' from parking meters

SMH.com.au


A man who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from parking meters splurged it on the pokies, cars, holidays and AFL memorabilia, a court has heard.

Rodney Wayne Tatnell admitted stealing almost $290,000 from City of Melbourne parking meters in 2007 and 2008 and told police he used a large portion of the cash to play the poker machines.

But Tatnell, of Wyndham Vale in Melbourne's west, also splashed tens of thousands of stolen dollars on his daughter's wedding, cars for his siblings and luxury household items.

The 50-year-old Tatnell obtained the cash swiped from meters in Melbourne's CBD between July 28, 2007 and November 12, 2008, while working for a company contracted to collect the council's parking revenue, National Protective Services.

Workers involved in the scam would immediately pocket small amounts of coins extracted from the meters, while larger takings would be put in bags and dropped in their private cars or collected by others.

The rorts were uncovered after the City of Melbourne conducted an audit of the collection system in October 2008.

Tatnell gave his daughter and son-in-law $40,000 for their wedding from his stash and spent another $40,000 on a Ford Territory, the County Court in Melbourne heard on Monday.

Several of Tatnell's brothers were also beneficiaries. He bought a $28,500 Ford XR6 utility for one and spent $22,000 on a vehicle for another.

A third brother who helped Tatnell convert his haul of coins into notes using machines at banks was rewarded with a Holden Commodore, costing $11,200.

The stolen funds also funded holidays to Queensland and Tasmania and luxuries for Tatnell's home, including a spa, plasma television, bedroom suite, massage chair and AFL memorabilia featuring former Collingwood star Nathan Buckley.

During his pre-sentence hearing on Monday, Tatnell told Judge Frank Gucciardo he did not personally take any cash from the parking meters.

The court heard two collectors worked together on shifts and Tatnell's role was to drive the collection van.

He is charged with stealing $288,440, from which he made a profit of about $260,000, as the funds were often shared between others involved in the rorts.

His co-accused, 24-year-old Charnjit Kalia, stole $212,808 from the parking meters.

Kalia, of Heidelberg Heights, sent $25,820 home to his family in India.

Both Kalia and Tatnell pleaded guilty to three counts of theft.

Prosecutor Alex Albert called for Tatnell to serve a term of imprisonment.

But Tatnell's barrister Sam Norton said his client was of low intelligence and would not cope well with incarceration.

He said Tatnell did not have the "gravitas" to concoct the scheme, let alone rally others to do the same.

Nine people have been charged over the scam.

Judge Gucciardo will sentence Tatnell and hear Kalia's plea on June 15.