Harry James Creagh: Jail for Ongerup Australia Post employee who stole over $450,000 to pay gambling debts

A former Australia Post employee in the small Great Southern town of Ongerup has been jailed after he was caught by auditors stealing nearly half a million dollars to pay his gambling debts. Harry James Creagh was sentenced on Monday, November 18 in Albany District Court for stealing as a servant between June 24, 2021, and August 17, 2022. He stole a total of $452,850 during that period. The 32-year-old was employed by his father at Ongerup’s Australia Post branch, and began withdrawing money into his account to fund his compulsive gambling habit. The theft began with a $7000 deposit made to cover an owed debt, and that was one of 110 cash deposit transactions he made to his personal bank account. Creagh’s father employed the 32-year-old to manage the shop. Creagh was caught when auditors from Australia Post discovered the discrepancies in August 2022 and reported them to police, who arrested him on March 27, 2024. The 32-year-old made admissions to both the auditors and police regarding the theft. District Court Judge Gerard Staude said Creagh had described himself as “being in such a deep hole” that he did not know what else to do other than to “keep digging”. “You initially transferred money from Australia Post to your account intending to pay a debt of $7000 that you owed,” he said. “At the same time, you withdrew money which you intended to gamble with a view to recovering the money that you had taken.” Judge Staude said “one thing led to another” and Creagh’s situation “spiralled out of control”. “When you spoke to the police, you admitted that you would deposit money into your account from the Australia Post account, and you would regularly gamble, hoping to win money to repay what you had stolen,” he said. Since his arrest, Creagh has undergone counselling, ceased gambling, and his father has begun to repay the stolen money back to the national postal service. Judge Staude found Creagh was unlikely to re-offend and took into account his lack of sophistication in covering his tracks regarding the theft, the “many” character reference letters provided to the court, his lack of criminal record, and his guilty plea. Creagh was handed a three-year jail term, with two of those suspended for a period of two years.