Former Yorke Peninsula Council manager Karen Maria Schulz sentenced to home detention for ‘calculated’ fraud
EXCLUSIVE: A COUNCIL finance boss who defrauded her employer to fund holidays, cruises and her mother’s funeral will serve a jail term on home detention, angering the community she betrayed.
A COUNCIL finance boss who defrauded her employer to fund holidays, cruises and her mother’s funeral will serve a jail term on home detention, triggering anger among the community she betrayed.
In a series of “sophisticated” frauds, Karen Maria Schulz, 48, stole $218,877.55 from Yorke Peninsula Council, over four years while working as its “trusted” financial services manager.
Her “serious, blatant, calculated, skilful and dishonest” crimes were used to pay for overseas holidays, cruises, household and medical bills, credit cards, school fees — even her mother’s funeral.
Court documents reveal that after a 10-year career in several accounting roles at the Maitland-based council, 168km west of Adelaide, she siphoned money into personal accounts using duplicated invoices.
In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, the former bureaucrat, who managed the council’s financial operations, was jailed for two and half years for her “breach of trust” and “greed”.
But despite the “gravity” of the offending and her crimes leaving the local community and colleagues devastated, the mother of two will serve a 12-month non-parole period on home detention.
The home detention laws, which came into effect on September 1, have already led to dozens of offenders who would otherwise be behind bars serving their jail terms under home detention conditions.
Amid mounting criticism of the legislation — announced with great fanfare by Attorney General John Rau — Commissioner for Victims’ Rights Michael O’Connell said it had fallen short of community expectations.
In a letter to The Advertiser this week, former Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras added: “The alarming trend we are seeing in the very lenient sentences being handed down in our courts recently is a concern to victims and the general public alike”.
Outside court, Yorke Peninsula Council Mayor Ray Agnew said while the council accepted Magistrate Bob Harrap’s “fair” ruling, there would be a sense of injustice.
“A lot of the community feel that with the length of time of the offending, there should have been some period of detention in prison,” he said.
“It was not just the council, it is a community area and it is ratepayers that suffer. It was a lot of money.”
A powerful victim impact statement from council chief executive officer Andrew Cameron laid bare staff trauma, the negative impacts on council operations, and the “small tight-knit” rural community’s shock. One staff member was also wrongly implicated.
Schulz, of Port Victoria, who has repaid the money, pleaded guilty to 20 aggravated counts of dishonestly taking property without consent between July 14, 2011, and November 12, 2015.
She was first charged with 62 charges following an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption investigation.
She was sacked in January, her unnamed husband also lost his council job while her two teenage daughters are shattered.
Mr Harrap said her crimes were too serious to suspend a jail term but found she was a suitable home detention candidate, although questions remained about implementing the new laws.
He also took into account her “genuine remorse”, guilty pleas and letter of apology for her “abhorrent behaviour”.
“I am firmly of the view (your) offending is so serious that the only appropriate penalty is a period of imprisonment,” he said.
“This was serious, blatant, calculated, skilful and dishonest offending over a lengthy period of time.
“The gravity of your offending means a suspended term of imprisonment is inappropriate.”
Schulz declined comment outside court.