Cairns court: Fraudster Wendy Aspinall ordered to pay $1.5m to former boss
A Cairns fraudster who tipped millions of her boss’ money into pokies has claimed she did not steal the amount for which she was convicted - and explained why she pleaded guilty.
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A CAIRNS fraudster who tipped millions of her boss’s money down the pokies has claimed she did not steal the amount she was convicted of and only pleaded guilty to speed up court proceedings.
Wendy Aspinall, 56, was jailed for 11 years in 2019 after pleading guilty to defrauding her former employer, Down to Earth Demolitions, for $3.16 million, which she gambled away at the Reef Hotel Casino.
Owner and operator Rohan Murphy launched civil action last year in a bid to claim some of the money back.
The civil case returned to the Cairns Supreme Court yesterday after the Public Trustee bizarrely granted Aspinall permission to defend the lawsuit last month.
Aspinall appeared in court via video link from the Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre and told the court she believed the amount of money she stole was “about half” of the amount she was sentenced for.
“I did plead guilty to that because I didn’t want a trial, I’d been going through enough stress in the past few years waiting to go to court and that’s why I agreed to plead guilty and just do my punishment, but I believe it is significantly less than $3.1 million,” she said.
She told the court she had not filed any documents to support her application because it was too difficult behind bars and was also bankrupt.
“I just don’t know how I would pay this money back,” she said.
Justice Jim Henry said Mr Murphy’s solicitor Doug McKinstry was aware of her financial position and had little hope of recovering the cash, but the claim was proceeding due to a “long line of creditors” needing evidence of this.
“It’s more to do with putting his client in a good legal position vis-a-vis other creditors, that’s all,” he said.
Justice Henry made a draft order for $1.5 million – half the amount – and also ordered Aspinall pay all legal costs.
Mr McKinstry said Aspinall’s claim the stolen amount was too high was “difficult to accept”.
“Why she would have entered a plea to such a serious matter at criminal proceedings if she had any doubts about the amount, especially if she thought the amount was half,” he said.
“But the prospect of recovery in these proceedings are very slim, given that we have a 60-something-year-old incarcerated, bankrupt with one known asset which has a mortgage over it.”
He agreed to the draft order with the possibility of filing further claims for the other half at a later date.
Originally published as Cairns court: Fraudster Wendy Aspinall ordered to pay $1.5m to former boss