Aussie accountant stole $20m

File photo / Dean Purcell

A woman who stole nearly A$20 million from electrical retailer Clive Peeters contributed to the collapse of the company, a court was told.

Sonya Causer, 39, during a two-year period stole more than A$19 million, using the money to buy 44 properties, cars and jewellery, the Victorian Supreme Court was told on Monday.

Causer, of Lilydale in outer Melbourne, has pleaded guilty to 24 counts of theft.

Prosecutor Peter Kidd said the senior accountant used her access to the company's payroll and superannuation accounts to steal the money.

"The theft, Your Honour, was one of a number of factors which contributed to the collapse of Clive Peeters," he said.

"The Crown puts forward it was a factor in combination with a number of other factors."

Clive Peeters has recovered all but $3.3 million of the stolen money, the court was told.

The electrical and computer retailer went into voluntary administration in May this year.

The pre-sentence hearing before Justice Jack Forrest is continuing.

- AAP