Stephen Versalko stole $18m and spent it on fine wine and prostitutes - 'I was an absolute fool'

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To mark the Herald on Sunday's 15th anniversary, we have gone back to some of our biggest newsmakers to find out where they are now.

"I was an absolute fool," says Stephen Versalko of the period in his life when he stole $17.8 million, spending large chunks of it on prostitutes and fine wine.

It cost him his career as a banking professional, his liberty, his standing in the community, the family home and his wife Megan.

Now Versalko is working as a painter in the Auckland area, a far cry from the high-flying lifestyle he enjoyed when working as Remuera branch manager for the ASB Bank.

The theft was first revealed in the Herald on Sunday in 2009, before the Serious Fraud Office had even laid the charges which would send Versalko to prison.

He was sentenced to six years for the theft and served a minimum four years before being granted parole.

Versalko's time was served with a minimum of fuss, during which he trained for a new profession to replace his now-useless expertise in the financial sector.

"I trained in prison to be a painter and that's what I'm doing now."

The business Versalko started after his release from prison in 2014 has done well, according to those who know the former banker. He is based in the Auckland area and focuses on contracts in his wider neighbourhood.

One former client who hired Versalko for a painting and decorating job said he had done a good job and they wouldn't hesitate to hire him again.

Versalko has never spoken about the nine-year scam which stunned the ASB Bank and he wasn't keen to when approached. "I promised I would never talk about it and I can't.

"I just want to get on with my life and be a good man."

Stephen Versalko, shortly before being sentenced to prison in 2010. Photo / Bradley Ambrose

Versalko was living in Remuera with his former wife Megan when the fraud was discovered. The couple separated after he went to prison, although he has remained close to their three children. She has since remarried and moved from Auckland.

The fraud saw Versalko take money from 26 ASB Bank customers, creating his own fraudulent documentation in an attempt to cover his tracks.

It took a day for Versalko's scam to fall apart after a phone call from a customer with concerns over a $3m investment.

The investigation which followed discovered Versalko - who always presented as a quiet family man - to have spent $3.4m on prostitutes and more than $300,000 on fine wine. He also spent the bank's money on expensive hotels at which he would entertain prostitutes.

The former Versalko family home in Remuera. Photo / Supplied

One of the prostitutes received $2.4m from Versalko. She was unwilling to comment on the case after reaching a confidential settlement with the ASB Bank after it pursued her for the cash.

At the time, the ASB Bank said: "'He preyed on ASB customers with whom he had built up trusted relationships over many years, stealing their funds in order to maintain a lifestyle he could not afford.

''He was calculating and unprincipled in his offending. Mr Versalko took deliberate advantage of his strong personal relationships with customers and colleagues, corruptly using his detailed knowledge of the bank's systems,together with his in-depth understanding of the processes around making transactions."