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SA accountant who stole $600k was not motivated by greed, court told

An accountant was not motivated by greed when he stole more than $600,000 from a group of Barossa wine companies, the South Australian district court has heard.

James Stanley George Martin, 53, pleaded guilty to 45 counts of theft relating to $638,596.25 he obtained by stealing the tax refunds of the Dural Wines Group, which runs three wine businesses.

Martin's offending occurred over a four-year period between June 2006 and June 2010.

The District Court heard he had financial problems with his own business and used nearly half of the money to pay staff, rent and other associated costs.

Some was also used on household expenses and bills and to finance his children's schooling and extra-curricular activities.

During sentencing submissions, defence lawyer Adria Doherty said her client initially intended to repay the money but when his thieving spiralled out of control he realised he could not.

"He describes the period after the offending as the lowest point of his life but it was also a relief that it had been discovered," she said.

"We accept that these offences are very serious. It's a large sum of money taken over a long period of time and my client was in a position of trust."

Ms Doherty said she was instructed to make a formal apology to Dural Wines and its chief executive officer and chief winemaker Reid Bosward.

"My client acknowledges that he has betrayed their trust in a significant way. My client sincerely regrets his actions and the situation he has placed the Dural Wines Group in," she said.

"Mr Martin was not using these funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle. This was not motivated by greed."

Judge questions defendant's intention to pay back funds

Judge Paul Rice questioned how Martin intended to repay the money.

"I realise that some people in his position may have had the best of intentions to start with," he said.

"There could not have been an intention to repay the money after the first $100,000 or $200,000 or $300,000."

Prosecutor Andrew Wilson told the court Martin had sold his family home and repaid $40,000 to Dural.

He said Martin was on a payment plan that would see him take 200 years to repay the rest.

"This offending involved an abuse of a position of trust, it was also involving a repeated and protracted course of conduct," he said.

"It would appear that this was a situation of his own making.

"Whether your Honour finds any extravagance [in his lifestyle] or not, precisely how the defendant applied those funds is not a source of mitigation, it is simply an explanation for his conduct."

Martin remains on bail and will be sentenced in January.