Samantha Jean Riley sentenced for Gladstone fraud offences

An employee at a Central Queensland cleaning and property maintenance business racked up a fraudulent personal spending spree on a company card.

Samantha Jean Riley (inset) was sentenced in Gladstone Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to charges including 23 fraud and attempted fraud offences.

A mother of five has been sentenced after she racked up a fraudulent personal spending spree on a company card while working for a Central Queensland cleaning and property maintenance business.

Samantha Jean Riley, 33, pleaded guilty in Gladstone Magistrates Court to charges including 23 fraud and attempted fraud offences.

The court heard the fraud offences occurred last November while Riley working as an employee of Everything Home Services, a cleaning and property maintenance business.

It was told she used a company debit card to rack up $1550.64 worth of personal purchases over four days and while many were successful, others weren’t.

Riley had a one-page Queensland criminal history which included multiple stealing offences, and she also had a New South Wales criminal record which also contained stealing offences.

Police prosecutor Katarina Pollard said a term of imprisonment was in range for Riley and she submitted for one of 12 months with a parole release date at the one-third mark.

“The offending before the court is serious in nature,” Ms Pollard said.

Samantha Jean Riley.

The prosecution also sought restitution.

Solicitor Stephen White said Riley was a mother of five who was receiving Centrelink benefits and studying at TAFE.

“With the hope of obtaining a position as an enrolled nurse in the future,” Mr White said.

The solicitor said Riley was “extremely remorseful” for her offending and she had offered an apology to her former employer.

“(She) is also embarrassed to be before the court,” Mr White said.

“The defence concedes that there is some very recent like offending (on Riley’s history)... there’s no shying away from that.

“It is noteworthy that those offences were dealt with by fines.”

Mr White agreed a term of imprisonment was in range for Riley but he submitted if one was imposed, that it be wholly suspended.

“And that would certainly be a great deterrent for my client to cease with this pattern of property offending with a suspended sentence hanging over her head.”

During sentencing, Magistrate Mary Buchanan said this offending was a breach of trust with Riley’s employer at the time.

She sentenced Riley to four months’ jail, wholly suspended for an operational period of 12 months.

Riley was also ordered to pay $1550.64 restitution and convictions were recorded.