‘Beyond opportunistic’: Judge details former adviser’s $4.4m theft
Individuals lent as much as $1.1 million to former financial adviser, Anthony Del Vecchio, which was then used to fuel his gambling habit and only learnt of the fraud when they contacted his employer.
Del Vecchio pleaded guilty in the County Court of Victoria to 24 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and was sentenced to seven years and six months’ imprisonment on 16 April 2025.
He was employed as an adviser at Freedom Finance Australia from November 2016 until October 2023 when his employment was terminated.
Between February 2020 and December 2023, he used his position as a financial adviser to convince members of family, friends and clients to transfer money to him under the pretext of investing their funds in various investments, such as term deposits, bonds and shares.
Individuals included his girlfriend of five years cousins, family friends and childhood friends as well as multiple of his clients. The individuals had told him the money was being put towards matters such as saving for a holiday or wedding, but Del Vecchio convinced them instead of lucrative short-term investment opportunities.
Two individuals were associate advisers at Freedom Finance who invested almost $20,000 between them.
For one unnamed victim, they had a daughter suffering with cancer at the time of the investment.
“Although a number of the victims have expressed feelings of humiliation, shame and guilt for being taken in by you, the only person who should be feeling such emotions is you, Mr Del Vecchio," Judge Gabriele Cannon said.
The largest transfer was $1.1 million by a family friend while the smallest was $4,257, combining to form a total of $4.4 million from all participants.
In each case, the money was transferred to his bank account but no financial product was purchased. When they questioned the investment, Del Vecchio provided false documents, avoided the question, induced further payments or made excuses, the judge said in sentencing remarks.
Only a small percentage of the individuals, including his girlfriend's father, received any money back from him, typically a far smaller amount than the original investment. For example, one individual invested $85,000 but only received $1,652 in “interest earned”.
Del Vecchio ceased employment at Freedom Finance in October 2023 but, in some cases, continued to take funds even after he no longer held a financial services licence.
For his victims, his termination was the first time they became aware that their funds had not been invested or been used for fraudulent means.
In the case of a cousin who invested $207,000, the judge said: “In mid-December 2023, the victim heard, through a family chat group, that you may no longer be employed by Freedom Finance. He contacted the company, who told him that your employment had been terminated in October 2023 and there was no record of his money in their system.”
In other cases, they were informed by Freedom Finance that their funds had been misappropriated and an investigation was ongoing, as well as problems with his behaviour relating to clients.
Commenting on the trust Del Vecchio had built with the individuals, Judge Cannon said: “In a number of instances, the offending went beyond opportunistic, as you actively sought out your victims, knowing full well they could ill afford to part with such significant sums of money, which, in a number of cases, were their life savings.
“You chose to do so on occasion, knowing that particular victims had particular needs for their hard-earned money, but apparently your need to gamble and use the money for your own benefit was your priority.
“You breached the trust that the victims placed in you as a financial adviser and in many instances, as a friend and/or family member, callously taking advantage of such relationships to commit the offences.”
Given the close relationships he had with the individuals, the judge also noted his extended family had “imploded” as a result of his illegal activities.
“A number of the victims have also been negatively impacted by the loss of contact with family members who have supported you effectively, your extended family which was once a very close and happy unit, has imploded.”
Gambling activity
The reason for Del Vecchio’s activity was gambling addiction, with the former adviser holding accounts with 52 different betting companies. While this began with $100 per week, it quickly spiralled to thousands of dollars a day.
No limits were placed on his bets or questions raised of his conduct.
On the contrary, eight to 10 providers engaged with him as a VIP manager who would contact him on a daily basis to offer sporting tickets or entice him to bet further.
A report by a forensic accountant found the largest losses of over $1 million were incurred by Del Vecchio with MintBet, described on its website as “Australia’s freshest betting app”, and his total net fund outflows across the 52 companies stood at $4.2 million.
After his addiction was discovered, he embarked on counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy which concluded in March 2025.
While the judge noted it was an explanation for his actions, she did not accept that it was a matter of mitigation or an excuse.
Judge Cannon said: “What is clear is that you were in the grips of a gambling addiction which you were prepared to feed by any fraudulent means that you could. The addiction explains your behaviour, but it does not excuse it or impact on your moral culpability.
“Like many in such situations, you may have foolishly believed that you would be able to bet your way out of the increasingly serious debts that you were incurring, using the victims’ money to keep going.
“At times, you did make some effort to make some repayment to some of the victims, although this was rather insubstantial in most cases and I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that these efforts sprang from feelings of remorse.”
If not for his guilty plea and lack of prior convictions, he would have been sentenced to nine years and six months with a non-parole period of six years and six months.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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