Matthew Michael Kenneth Wilson pleads guilty to fraud in Maroochydore Magistrates Court

A Sunshine Coast man has faced court after he scammed a couple out of an $18,000 deposit when he tried to sell them a fish aquarium. Here’s how he tried to do it before getting caught:

A Kuluin man who scammed a Mooloolaba couple out of an $18,000 deposit for a fish aquarium has been sentenced.

Matthew Michael Kenneth Wilson, 28, pleaded guilty in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on October 15 to one count of fraud.

Wilson, who owned Tropical Marine Centre in Mooloolaba, had obtained an $18,000 deposit for a fish tank from the customers on March 23 after they’d inquired about buying a specialised fish tank with cabinetry for their home.

The couple had been quoted $25,804.95 for the fish tank and were told by Wilson he required a 70 per cent deposit from them in order to make the order as some parts of the tank would be imported from America.

Court documents reveal the couple were told it would take six weeks for the tank to arrive.

When the victims contacted Wilson in May to inquire why the tank hadn’t arrive, he told them there had been delays in delivery due to the pandemic and the tank was “still in the water”.

Matthew Michael Kenneth Wilson defrauded $18,000 from a customer who was interested in a fish tank. Picture: Laura Pettigrew

The couple then contacted Wilson again on July 1, to be told by him that the delivery had arrived but there was a crack in the tank.

He told them he didn’t accept the delivery and sent it back to the supplier.

When asked for photos of the crack, Wilson sent an image of the box with a hole in the bottom.

Court documents reveal it was at this point the victims became suspicious and requested a refund.

Wilson told them “he was unable to provide a refund because he had already ordered and paid for the fish tank from the supplier” but the tank would arrive in a further six weeks.

Wilson then informed the victims on July 29 his business had closed because it had been put into receivership.

The victims requested the details of the receivers to try to recover their lost funds but Wilson refused to provide any details.

Police began their investigation into Wilson and found there was only $2784.96 in the business account the day the victims had transferred their money to Wilson.

The investigation found Wilson had made numerous withdrawals the same day valued at $8403.92 to pay for lease rental payments and other expenses.

Officers state that without the victims’ deposit, Wilson’s account had “grossly insufficient funds to cover those expenses paid”.

Police also discovered the fish tank manufacturer had an Australian-based distributor, which confirmed Wilson had contacted them but never finalised the order with any payment.

Wilson’s computer and mobile phone was searched by police, where it was discovered the photo of the box sent to the victims was time stamped July 1 and not the date he had told the victims the box had arrived.

Wilson told police he “had full intentions to fulfil the order” but after receiving the deposit the business experienced financial difficulty which prevented him from being able to pay the deposit to the supplier.

He was given a 15-month term of imprisonment, which was wholly suspended for 24 months.

Wilson was not ordered to pay restitution to the victims.