The former head of IT at the National Gallery of Victoria James Michael Hosking, allegedly siphoned more than 3,600 Apple iPhones out of a Telstra sponsorship arrangement and sold them for $8.46 million, with the alleged offending running for six years before it was detected.

appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for a first mention of charges laid by Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC), comprising seven counts of theft and one of misconduct in public office.

He has been barred from leaving the country.

Prosecutors allege the phones were sold to an unnamed third party, sometimes through intermediaries, in transactions worth a total of $8,456,415.47.

How The Alleged Scheme Worked

IBAC alleges Hosking misused credits from an account available to him under the gallery’s sponsorship agreement with Telstra, and falsified documents to mislead NGV staff about procurements from the telco.

According to court records, the alleged offending began in September 2019 and escalated sharply from 2023.

Period iPhones allegedly stolen
6 Sept to 31 Dec 2019 230 ($490,268.24)
2020 459 ($970,192.16)
2021 280
2022 422
2023 640
2024 641
1 Jan to 2 Sept 2025 930
Total 3,602

IBAC launched Operation Sonder in September 2025 to investigate the alleged misconduct.

Gallery Sacks IT Chief

Writing to the gallery’s 400 staff after the charges were made public last month, NGV director Tony Ellwood said the gallery had reported the matter to Victoria Police and IBAC and had terminated Hosking’s employment.

Defence: “Facing The Music”

Hosking’s lawyer, Josh Smith, told The Age his client had been “incredibly compliant and co-operative” throughout the year-long investigation.

“He’s led a really sort of ordinary, law-abiding life in every other aspect except for this [alleged offending],” Smith said.

“He is a hard-working family man who has found the whole process extremely difficult on him and his family, but he is facing the music and hoping to finalise the matter as quickly as possible.”

Where Did The Phones Go?

The buyers of the handsets have not been named, and it is not known whether police will seek to recover devices from consumers who may have bought them unaware of their alleged origin.

Every handset carries a unique IMEI number, which sources familiar with the matter claim would allow the devices to be traced.

Questions Over Oversight

A senior figure in the public gallery sector, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Age it “beggars belief” the alleged conduct went undetected for so long.

“Even for the NGV, $8 million seems like a lot of money to go missing,” they said.

In the NGV’s 2024-25 financial report, the expense line for “office supplies, insurance and communications”, the category most likely to cover mobile phones, was $7 million, down from $7.5 million the previous year.

The matter will return to court at a later date.