Former FDC finance manager charged with $90,000 fraud

A 42-year-old woman from the New South Wales South Coast has been sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order and 500 hours of community service after she defrauded her employer, a family day care (FDC) scheme, of more than $90,000 over five years. 

The woman was also ordered to repay the defrauded funds, which were used to “fund her lifestyle” including using the scheme’s credit card to spend more than $1,300 on a trip to Kmart and Target just days before Christmas in 2014.

She pled guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception with a third count to be taken into consideration, and admitted to obtaining the funds over the five-year period she was employed, beginning almost immediately on starting the role. 

As well as Christmas shopping for her family, the funds were used to purchase gift certificates to the Shellharbour Square shopping centre, buy groceries from Woolworths, home decor, tyres and a wheel alignment for her vehicle, and other items.

Botox treatments, Lorna Jane athletic wear, personal loan repayments, school fees, dance lessons, resort stays and cash deposits to friends and family also featured in the list of allegations.

At least $36,000 of the funds were transferred into her own personal account, or used to pay personal bills. Fund transfers were labelled as “reimbursement” and “payment for advertising” in an attempt to disguise the fraud. 

Her employment was terminated in July 2018 when the scheme became aware of the extent of the misappropriation. 

Unfortunately due to the extent of the fraud, Police prosecutor Anna Comer said, the not-for-profit FDC provider has “barely stayed financially viable since the offences [name redacted] has committed and hasn’t paid back.” 

The defence argued that the fraud was unsophisticated, and was carried out in an attempt to maintain the family’s financial position. The defendant has since been employed with no issues, and no further offending has taken place, with the defendant expressing regret for her actions. 

“She’s contrite and remorseful for the conduct she did some years ago and she’s accepting responsibility for that,” her lawyer said.

Local coverage of this story is available here.