A South Australian MP's fraud and theft offending was fuelled by "greed" and has so far cost him his family home and more than $800,000 in legal fees, the district court has heard. Prosecutors are pushing for Troy Bell to go to jail for stealing from a not-for-profit organisation.
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00:00With his future hanging in the balance, Troy Bell leaves court.
00:05It's very difficult, but the process has to play out, so we'll respect the courts and the process.
00:13The 51-year-old Mount Gambier MP was last year found guilty of 20 counts of theft and 5 counts of dishonest dealing with documents.
00:20He stole more than $340,000 from not-for-profit educational organisations between 2009 and 2013.
00:29Prosecutor Gemma Litzter telling the court,
00:38Ms Litzter also calling for a jail term to be set, saying others needed to be deterred from similar systematic fraudulent offending.
00:45But Nick Healey for Troy Bell argued the sentence should be suspended as his client had suffered personally and financially.
00:52Bell's lawyer told the court his client had spent more than $800,000 in legal fees and been forced to sell his family home in Mount Gambier,
01:00along with his investment properties. He says if jailed, Bell could be forced into bankruptcy.
01:06It's been a lot of difficult things to hear over the journey, but remain positive and keep pushing ahead.
01:15With a decision still pending on Bell's appeal, Mr Healey had asked for the hearing to be postponed
01:20as sentencing him could trigger a by-election costing $1 million and forcing the people of Mount Gambier to the polls three times within the next year.
01:28A date for sentence has yet to be set.