After one of Versalko's victims raised the alarm, the couple's comfortable life disintegrated in just six months.
"I'm trying to get on with my life," Megan Versalko said.
In late August, Megan Versalko was a primary school teacher who didn't need to work - the couple had three talented children, plenty of money and lived in a luxuriously renovated Remuera home.
Stephen Versalko was a respected investment adviser for the ASB Bank, on his desk was a photo of his children with former Prime Minister Helen Clark. Then he was fired from the ASB Bank for fraud.
Just days later, the Herald on Sunday identified Versalko after the ASB Bank began legal moves to seize $4.7m worth of property brought, it claimed, with stolen money.
Stephen Versalko was the perpetrator of the biggest employee theft in New Zealand's history. And he spent his money on a lavish lifestyle.
There was $3.4m on prostitutes, more than $300,000 on fine wine, and the expensive hotels to which he took his hookers.
Defence lawyer Stuart Grieve told the judge Megan Versalko was left fighting for what few assets could be kept from the bank - the only thing to show, other than their children, for the 25-year marriage.
"Since the uncovering of her husband's offending, the total unexpected events have left her finding and attempting to secure a fulltime teaching position at a primary school level, selling and relocating the family home to a rented accommodation and dealing with the prospect of her lifetime companion being in custody for a long time."
Prosecutors at the Serious Fraud Office and the ASB Bank agree that she knew nothing of Versalko's criminal behaviour.
In the court documents, Versalko also insisted his wife and their children knew nothing of criminal behaviour over nine years. He was "leading two lives".
The court documents contain an interview in which he said his family had been supportive since his sacking, "despite some initial resistance from his eldest son".
The children are aged 18, 20 and 22. The two sons attended St Kentigern College and the daughter St Cuthbert's. All three are at the University of Auckland.
In the interview, Versalko said: "I knew what I was doing... deep down I knew I'd eventually get caught". When he was confronted, he said it brought a feeling of relief.
Versalko also said he was a "well-respected member of staff" and "would regularly gift cash payments to employees as a token of his gratitude".
He also said his sister had offered work at her New World supermarket in Takapuna on his release.
While he had the support of his brother Greg, another brother, Andy, who worked in the financial sector for AMP, was "aggrieved", he said.
Andy Versalko's wife Andrea said the family name had been "dragged through the mud".
"Quite frankly, I feel he is a slug who should be squashed. We're victims in this as much as the ASB. We all have to live with it. He should be given jail for the rest of his life.
"There is no sympathy from this neck of the woods. What happens to him, we really don't care," she said.
"We're all devastated by what happened. I don't feel any sympathy for him at all."
Andrea Versalko said the impact on her family was so intense she had not considered how Megan Versalko had coped. "How she is feeling is immaterial to me."
One person who worked with Versalko during the frauds said all ASB staff at the bank were responsible because their bonuses depended on investments.
That person cannot be named - ASB Bank has told staff they are not to comment and it has refused to offer any explanation to customers beyond a short statement after sentencing.
The staff member said Versalko was seen as "a brilliant guy who was always busy".
He had a photograph on his desk his children, pictured with former Prime Minister Helen Clark after bumping into her on a bush walk.
"He seemed pretty family-oriented... that's why I was shocked about the prostitute side of things."
The wine bill also surprised, but the person does remember Versalko bringing vintage wine to staff functions and dinners.
The person said Versalko did not have a manager at the Remuera branch, where he was based. "He was pretty much on his own. He had carte blanche over his day and no one over his shoulder.
"Managers respected him and staff wanted to keep him onside as we got our bonuses based on what business or investments we brought in from customers.
"Essentially, we were all involved because we lead the lambs to the slaughter."
The person recalled referring a customer worth $5m to Versalko. "I chased him up over it for months. I would have got a large bonus. He told me he was working out the details. Looking at it now, he probably did have those details worked out."
Despite the SFO discovering he had spent $313,442.97 on wine, Versalko said before sentencing he had "two glasses of wine per night with dinner".
Investigations revealed one escort received $2,552,508 and another $791,182. Investigators tracked even more money spent at escort agencies around Auckland and the women also spoke of "large cash payments".
In court, Versalko's lawyer claimed one of the escorts Versalko used had blackmailed him with the existence of their relationship. Legal orders are in place freezing the assets of the prostitute who received the most money, which the ASB Bank is suing to recover.
But SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said the agency's case "did not indicate any evidence of extortion".
"This was a matter raised by the defence. We are not pursuing any investigation into this allegation nor are we looking at any other suspects to the offending."
