‘Ordinary, law-abiding life’: Accused $8m NGV thief faces court

October 20, 2026 — 4:56pmA former National Gallery of Victoria employee accused of pilfering $8 million from the NGV is a hard-working family man who is facing the music, his lawyer said as the alleged thief faced court on Tuesday.James Michael Hosking was recently charged with theft and misconduct in public office. Police allege that over six years, about $8 million in mobile phones were bought under an NGV account and then sold between September 2019 and September 2025.Former National Gallery of Victoria IT chief James Michael Hosking (centre) leaves court on Tuesday.Chris HopkinsHosking’s lawyer, Josh Smith, told The Age his client had been “incredibly co-operative” with IBAC’s investigation.“He’s led a really sort of ordinary, law-abiding life in every other aspect except for this [alleged offending],” Smith said.“My client has been incredibly compliant and co-operative with the IBAC investigation to date and he intends on continuing to do so. 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.”Hosking is banned from leaving the country after facing court for the first time on Tuesday and being ordered to surrender his passport to authorities.Operation Sonder was established in September 2025 to investigate allegations of corrupt conduct in relation to theft and misuse of his position by the former senior NGV employee.The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission also alleges he misused his position to conceal the offending.Seven charges of theft and one of misconduct have since been laid.IBAC investigators raided Hosking’s apartment on September 13 last year and seized multiple devices.Hosking is accused of stealing $8 million.The AgeSmith told this masthead that following that raid, the father of two was “very forthcoming” during interviews, and responded to IBAC’s numerous emails and phone calls over the year until he was charged.“It’s obviously a very serious crime, and happened over a long period of time. The allegations are very serious,” Smith said.At Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tim Bourke gave the police until December to file their evidence with the court.Hosking was released on bail on conditions including that he surrender his passport to police within 24 hours, not attend any points of international departure such as airports and shipping docks, and not leave Australia while the case remains before the court.Hosking was the NGV’s IT chief during the alleged offending. He was ordered to face court again in January.The magistrate granted the release of charge details to the media in the form of documents shortly after 10am. But by close of court business six hours later, nothing had been released, despite repeated requests from this masthead to court staff.A source with knowledge of the investigation, unable to speak publicly, said Telstra’s fraud squad alerted the NGV to the alleged fraud, involving fake invoices for mobile phones, in September 2025.One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alleged offences involved a staggering number of fraudulent invoices over a long period.They said the NGV’s $4.8 billion art collection was not affected and few people at the gallery know the details of what is alleged to have occurred, while those who do are under a strict gag order from IBAC.No new details of the allegations were aired in court.Melbourne’s NGV is Australia’s oldest and most popular gallery and was founded in 1861.The gallery has about 500 staff members, according to its most recent annual report.Almost all references to the former employee have been wiped from the NGV’s website, while Hosking appeared to have deleted his social media accounts.An NGV spokesperson said the employee was fired in September 2025 after the alleged offending was reported to police and IBAC.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners