A Melbourne businesswoman who maintained a facade of success while secretly stealing over $6 million from a trusted client to fund a crippling gambling addiction has shared her story after serving her prison sentence.

Connie Paglianiti, 68, was jailed at age 61 after her decades-long deception was exposed in August 2018. The unraveling began when a man served her with legal documents at her home, revealing the scale of the money she had taken. Paglianiti had hidden her gambling addiction from her husband, son, mother, siblings, and colleagues, who knew her as a busy, sociable, and successful entrepreneur.

Paglianiti arrived in Australia from Italy at age 11 and took on responsibilities early, acting as a translator and caregiver for her younger siblings. This early sense of responsibility, she explained, carried into adulthood as she built a financial and payroll administration business, volunteered for charities, and organized large-scale events. She met her husband in 1995 and became a mother in her early 40s. "I was always the fixer," she stated.

Her gambling began socially in the mid-1990s, around the time Melbourne's Crown Casino opened. Initially, she and her sister would visit the casino perhaps once a week, playing the poker machines for about an hour. Paglianiti described it as a way to unwind, noting, "Maybe because I didn't have to think."

The nature of her gambling changed significantly around 2012 after a business venture went awry. She collaborated with an individual from Melbourne's Italian community on an event called La Dolce Italia. Following the event, Paglianiti claims she was left facing creditors and discovered she was more than $1 million in debt. After refinancing her mortgage and maxing out a credit card, legal advice indicated that recovering funds from her former business partner would be difficult. Faced with this, Paglianiti began to believe she could win the money back.

"The more I gambled, the more I stole, the more I gambled," she recalled. What started as a desperate attempt to recoup losses transformed into an addiction where gambling became an escape from the shame and depression she felt. While maintaining her public persona, she privately battled suicidal thoughts. She would travel to Sydney, where fewer constraints allowed her to gamble for extended periods, sometimes losing large sums, including an estimated $200,000 in one night despite hitting a $76,000 jackpot.

Even promises made after her father's death in June 2018 to stop gambling were short-lived. By July and August of that year, she was still gambling.

By this point, Paglianiti had begun stealing from a bookkeeping client of over 20 years, who trusted her with access to his accounts. She concealed the illicit withdrawals within authorized payments. She told herself she would win the money back and repay it, a logic she now finds incomprehensible. Over several years, the thefts continued, causing her severe migraines and sleep disturbances. She found herself unable to look her client in the eye and began avoiding their regular meetings.

When she and her husband finally reviewed the documents together, the total amount stolen, exceeding $6 million, stunned them both. Paglianiti admitted she hadn't grasped the full extent of her actions.

Serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence, much of which coincided with COVID-19 lockdowns that limited family visits, Paglianiti was released in March 2022. The shame of her actions led her to withdraw socially for an extended period.

Her mother's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in October 2023 and subsequent death in January 2024 provided Paglianiti with a reason to re-engage with the world. Fearing that grief might lead her back to gambling, she resumed counseling and returned to university to write her memoir.

Now gambling-free since August 2018, Paglianiti shares her story through peer support groups and speaking engagements, aiming to make it easier for others to seek help. She advocates for approaching those struggling with addiction with curiosity and understanding, emphasizing that "we are normal people. Somehow, we've just gone down the wrong path."