Scenic Rim woman Tracy Kim Peat laundered $36k for online love interest

A court has heard how a woman “fell prey” to an online romance scammer and laundered $36,000 over seven months, paying the scammer through a series of cryptocurrency accounts.

A Kalbar woman has been sentenced for laundering more than $36,000 for a scammer she met online.

Tracy Kim Peat, 49, pleaded guilty on Monday (September 5) to one count of laundering money knowingly.

The court heard the offending occurred from March to October last year after Peat engaged in two online relationships.

Prosecutor Jessica Beckman said Keat had been “drawn in under the guise of a romantic connection”.

Keat laundered more than $36,000 throughout the seven month period by transferring money to cryptocurrency accounts.

It was accepted Keat did not know why the money needed to be laundered.

The court heard she had been reprimanded by police in December, 2020 for laundering linked with the first online relationship.

Her offending in 2021 was linked to a second online relationship.

She self-reported her offending to police in July last year and made admissions to knowingly laundering the money – but still continued to offend after that.

Tracy Kim Peat leaving Ipswich Courthouse. Picture: Nicola McNamara

“It may or may not have ever come to the attention of police if she had not self reported,” Ms Beckman said.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren noted that although Peat had made admissions about her offending, it was “troubling” she persisted with it.

He said her criminal history involved drug offending and that addiction seemed to “be a feature of (her) decline in recent years”.

The court heard Peat had been struggling with her mental health at the time of her offending and had started using methamphetamine during a previous relationship.

“The internet, it must be said, is a scammer’s paradise … and you fell prey to such a person,” Judge Horneman-Wren said.

“People who might be drawn into such activity need to know they will be punished.”

He also said Peat had strong prospects of rehabilitation, given she had self reported and made efforts to address her mental health and drug use.

But he said she would “obviously” need personal deterrence to stop reoffending.

He sentenced Peat to two years’ probation. A conviction was recorded.