By Sue Newman

It must have been one hell of a party, one long, ongoing party and it's a party whose aftermath is going to linger for a long, long time.

In some odd kind of way you have to admire Stephen Versalko.

 Steal $18 million and blow a hefty whack of that on hookers.

 It's the stuff of dreams for many blokes, but that's exactly what the Aucklander did.

 Clearly they play hard and fast in the big smoke.

The banker, well former banker, did the unforgiveable, he took clients' money, got caught and has probably created his own slice of history in the process.

 Clearly he worked on the theory that if you're going to go bad, go really bad.

Versalko nicked the money and cashed in big time in the sex-for-money game.

 His rewards were no doubt sweet at the time, but with a six-year jail sentence now hanging round his neck, he'll have plenty of time to dig out those good old memories and relive his glory days.

 There should be no hookers where he's going, well not the kind he'd choose to use.

Pity Versalko's wife and children, pity Versalko's clients.

 For nine years he sifted money out of the accounts of 26 wealthy ASB clients.

 And they must have been wealthy.

 Most of us would notice if the bank skimmed $100 out of our account; they clearly didn't notice hundreds of thousands disappearing.

You have to admire the two hookers involved.

 They lived off Versalko for nine years, that's truly using your assets to best advantage.

 If they've been smart, they'll never need to work again.

The Versalko case might be raising plenty of laughs around the country and while it certainly has its light side, it also demonstrates just how easily someone can be duped.

He preyed on the wealthy elderly who were financially unsophisticated.

 He clearly became their friend and they trusted him. That's abuse of the highest order.

Versalko may have admitted his crime, he may have assisted in the recovery of a small amount of the money, but don't have sympathy for him.

 He's a toad of the worst kind.

 Six years, probably four before the parole option kicks in, is six years too short.

His is a high profile fraud case, but how many hundreds, probably thousands of instances of small time fraud are out there happening right now.

 The trusted abusing the trusting, moving money, shuffling accounts, leaving no paper trail in their wake.

It was no doubt fun while it lasted, the party's over but the hangover will last for several years.