A former longtime public servant will spend time behind bars after a judge rejected the man's claim he stole hundreds of agency laptops to "help children in the Philippines".
Con Ayfandis, 54, faced the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday charged with theft and two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Agreed facts state the Greek-born man stole hundreds of information and communication technology equipment pieces from Services Australia between 2017 and 2021.
He had worked with the agency since 2003 and rose "from a trainee to an APS level six".
Police recovered 453 items, including laptops, tablets, hard drives and mobile phones, valued at a total of $98,661.47, when they searched his home.
Ayfandis pleaded guilty to all charges "at the earliest possible opportunity".
Acting Justice Peter Berman sentenced the man to 13 months in jail, with six of those to be served in custody, before the rest of the sentence is effectively suspended.
Authorities were unable to recover equipment, including dozens of laptops, the offender sold both in Australia and the Philippines.
The man told police he had only taken equipment "that was chucked away in bins".
The court heard on Thursday it was Ayfandis' role with Services Australia to deploy and receive ICT equipment from a Hume warehouse.
He sold some of the stolen equipment on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, and sent others to his fiancé in the Philippines for her personal use and to be sold.
Gumtree records show the offender put a range of laptops up for sale online for prices ranging between $150 and $240.
The judge said he did not believe Ayfandis' motivation of sending "obsolete" IT equipment to help children in the Philippines with their studies but, rather, said it was personal financial gain.
"It suggests even now he is not prepared to be honest as to why he committed the offences," acting Justice Berman said.
"He is not truly remorseful."
He also did not accept the stolen equipment was at the end of its life, with much of the property deemed to be brand new and still in its packaging.
Defence barrister Alyn Doig asked the court to consider Ayfandis' autistic spectrum disorder level one, a diagnosis the man was unaware of prior to his psychological assessment for the case's pre-sentence report.
Acting Justice Berman accepted the offender was "not a neurotypical person" but asked whether that reduced his moral culpability.
Mr Doig argued it did.
"[The mental health condition] allowed him to make decisions based upon his own goals without full consideration at the time of the impact on others," he said.
Prosecutor Ella Gordon said it may be appropriate for the judge to give some weight to Ayfandis' condition.
However, she told the court there was no evidence on which any "mental conditions contributed to the commission of the offence in any way".
The court heard Ayfandis paid back "everything he was asked to pay" by the Commonwealth.
Acting Justice Berman said he considered these factors, as well as the man's lack of criminal history, his good behaviour while on bail and unlikelihood of reoffending, for sentencing.
