Max Frederick Casey: Albany man who stole thousands of litres of diesel from former employer FLG avoids jail

An Albany man who used a cloned key fob to steal thousands of dollars worth of diesel from his former employer’s private bowsers has had his jail term suspended for a year. Max Frederick Casey appeared before Albany Magistrates Court on March 19 and pleaded guilty to four counts of stealing. Police prosecutor Sgt Meagan Diver told the court the 33-year-old had stolen hundreds of litres of diesel from Freight Lines Group in Albany, where he was previously employed. She said Casey cloned his key fob while he was working for the company last year, and had used the cloned fuel fob to fuel up his personal car and plastic drums with diesel on four separate occasions. Casey took his personal vehicle, a Nissan Navara, to FLG’s private fuel bowser on Chester Pass Road in Walmsley, four times between December 27, 2025, and February 4, 2026, and stole diesel worth a combined total of $2918.48. The court was told at least two of the fuel thefts occurred between 3am and 4am. Sgt Diver said Casey had committed “deliberate” and “repeated” offences which had left his previous employer thousands of dollars out of pocket. She noted these new charges breached both a conditionally suspended imprisonment order and a community based order. Defence lawyer Lisa Riley said Casey had been employed with FLG until January this year, and thought the fuel he took from the private bowser on December 27 would be deducted from his wages. She said Casey had cloned the key fob while he was an employee, something he told her was common practice among truck drivers so they had a spare fob in case they lost their original or left it in a truck. However, she said he accepted he knew he should not have been taking fuel for personal use and knew he did not have permission to access FLG’s private bowser after he was no longer their employee. Ms Riley said Casey had already offered to repay the full amount back to FLG and had appointments scheduled to seek help for impulse control. Magistrate Rosemarie Myers said Casey should have known he had no right to take fuel from the private bowsers, and also noted that he had stolen a “considerable” amount of fuel over a a short period. Casey was sentenced to nine months in prison, but the sentence was suspended for 12 months. He was fined $300 for breaching a conditionally suspended imprisonment order.