White collar crime: Sunshine Coast fraudsters sentenced court
Meet some of the Sunshine Coast’s fraudsters and the schemes they used to deceive their victims out of thousands of dollars.
Police & Courts
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They are the hustlers who have swindled thousands from Sunshine Coast residents.
Here is a list of some of the region’s most elaborate ruses to get easy money where possible which have landed in Maroochydore Courthouse over the past 18 months.
CONVICTED
Kylie Bridge
A property manager jailed for ripping off almost $60,000 from her boss says she spent the money on gambling and living expenses.
Kylie Bridge, 43, was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail in January for transferring money out of accounts owned by Peter Kennedy Realty at Pacific Paradise.
Maroochydore District Court heard Bridge made 42 fraudulent transactions between September 2017 and October 2, 2019.
“The defendant had her mother involved in some cleaning work in the complainant company and this ultimately enabled her to facilitate the fraud,” crown prosecutor Christopher Cook said.
Bridge on Wednesday pleaded guilty to fraud- the dishonest application of property by an employee between $30,000 and $100,000.
Bridge was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail, suspended after nine months.
Matthew Michael Kenneth Wilson
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 in October 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.
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”.
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.
Zoe Zador
A Coolum Beach woman who asked her acquaintance to get rid of her “lemon” car for an insurance claim has been sentenced after the car was set alight.
Zoe Zador, 41, pleaded guilty in Maroochydore District Court in October to one count each of arson and attempted fraud.
The prosecution case against Zador stated she had asked her acquaintance to help her get rid of her faulty 2013 Suzuki car for insurance purposes.
The court heard Zador had promised the man money once she got the insurance claim paid out.
The man, who was yet to be charged following a warrant issued for his arrest, allegedly drove Zador’s car to a secluded area in Coolum Beach near a sewage plant.
The court heard he later returned and set the car on fire on July 1, 2020.
Zador then filed an insurance claim with RACQ after telling police there was nothing wrong with the car.
Zador was given a two-year wholly suspended sentence for the arson charge and was given a one year probation order for the attempted fraud charge.
A conviction was recorded for both matters.
Patricia Anne McIntyre
A woman who scammed vulnerable renters out of thousands of dollars has been granted an appeal, with a judge ordering she no longer has to pay restitution to her victims.
Patricia Anne McIntyre scammed $26,000 from eight victims under the guise of providing them with a rental property in Ilkley between October 2020 and January 2021.
Two of her victims were forced into homelessness for several months while another woman lost $19,000 to McIntyre.
McIntyre was sentenced in Maroochydore Magistrates Court in April after pleading guilty to 17 offences including eight charges of fraud – dishonestly obtaining property from another and three charges of uttering a forged document.
Magistrate Maxine Baldwin had sentenced McIntyre to two years in prison with parole release on September 14, after serving eight months, and 89 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.
She was ordered to pay a total of $26,110 in restitution to the victims.
A probation order given to McIntyre in September 2021 in Nambour Magistrates Court was revoked, and she was sentenced to six months in prison for four counts of fraud and one month for a stealing offence, with both suspended for three years.
McIntyre launched an appeal against the sentence and during the hearing defence barrister Lachlan Ygoa-McKeown told the Maroochydore District Court the sentence was “excessive.”
Judge Long said any orders which required McIntyre to pay restitution were to be set aside.
He said in respect of the orders made to revoke the probation order, each term of six months imprisonment was reduced to four months and each order for suspension of these terms were set aside.
The head sentence of two years remained unchanged.
McIntyre will be released on parole on September 14.
Vicki Maree Murfet
A Mountain Creek woman who held the power of attorney of a 71-year-old woman‘s estate has been jailed for spending more than $57,000 she wasn’t entitled to spend.
Vicki Maree Murfet, 65, was sentenced in Maroochydore District Court for fraud after she dishonestly obtained $57,500 during 40 transactions between September 2019 and April 2020.
The court heard the woman had about $96,000 in her savings account when she died.
Crown Prosecutor Will Slack said Murfet had “abused her position of power of attorney” after the death of her friend in September 2019.
Judge Tony Moynihan sentenced Murfet to two years and six months in jail on June 21.
She was eligible for parole on November 6, 2021.
Dion James Taylor
A man who swindled $65,000 from a stranger‘s financial planner says he was being duped by a dating site scam.
Dion James Taylor, 43, received a suspended sentence in January 2021 after police linked his account to a fraudulent transfer made in early 2016.
Noosa Magistrates Court previously heard Taylor posed as another person, asking that person’s financial advisor in emails to transfer the money.
It wasn‘t until a second request for a further $65,000 on February 8, 2016, that the financial advisor gave their client a call and realised the scam.
Police requested Taylor‘s bank statements which showed a $65,000 transfer into his bank account.
He then transferred one sum to someone in Singapore and another to a person in Western Australia before withdrawing the remaining $9500 in cash.
Despite the $65,000 lump sum, police charged Taylor for fraud to the value of only $9,500.
Police prosecutor Phillip Stephens on Tuesday said Taylor was likely acting as a “mule” in a money scheme.
Taylor was sentenced to 12 months in jail, wholly suspended for three years.
He was ordered to pay $9500 in restitution.
Sky Brady
A man who conned more than $33,000 out of people hoping to buy guitars and concert tickets online has been sent to jail.
Sky Brady, 38, was sentenced in Maroochydore Magistrates court in May for 15 counts of fraud offences.
The court heard Brady would advertise online he was selling a guitar, concert tickets or other items over a 17-month period between October 2018 to March 2020.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Mark Burrell said Brady would engage with the victims online, give them bank account details to send the money through to and then block all contact with them after not sending the product they’d paid for.
Despite his lawyer arguing Brady, who had now obtained a job, could start paying back the money owed to the victims, he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
He was eligible for parole on September 12, 2020.
Andrea Jenelle Johnston
A mum who gambled away her daughter‘s $93,000 trust fund left by her late father has avoided jail after failing to repay the money.
Andrea Jenelle Johnston, 45, was in March ordered to pay $1000 a month to her estranged 23-year-old daughter who lost her dad‘s legacy.
She pleaded guilty to one count of stealing property and was sentenced in June 2018 to three years in jail with immediate parole.
Maroochydore District Court in March heard Johnston still owed $71,969 despite an order made in 2018 that she repay her daughter in full within two years.
The court heard Johnston could be ordered to serve six months in jail for failing to comply with the restitution order.
Crown prosecutor Stipe Drinovac said he had spoken with Johnston‘s daughter who was displeased with how the first $20,000 of restitution had been paid to her.
The daughter‘s father had died in 2009 and the trust fund resulted from his superannuation.
The court heard Johnston gambled the funds away over a period of four years, before her daughter turned 18.
Judge Richard Jones ordered Johnston pay her first $1000 instalment to her daughter on April 1.
The court heard Johnston was also granted early access to her superannuation and could pay a further lump sum of about $8000 to her daughter by May.
NOT CONVICTED
Natalie Rosalie Hutchison
A “cunning ” child psychologist’s sophisticated scheme to access drugs including ketamine, morphine and oxycodone came undone when police tracked a parcel locker back to her.
Natasha Rosalie Hutchison, 37, was sentenced in July to three years’ probation and slapped with a $1000 fine after pleading guilty to dozens of charges including drug possession, fraud and using a false identity.
Hutchison was charged with the offences in June 2020 after police seized several dangerous and restricted drugs, empty capsules, clip seal bags, a mobile phone and a computer during a raid on her home and business place.
Among the drugs found in Hutchison’s possession were ketamine, oxycodone, methadone, morphine and diazepam.
Police found the mobile phone stuffed in Hutchison’s bra during the raid.
Police prosecutor Mark Burrell said Hutchison had used another person’s details to obtain packages containing restricted drugs and had forged a signature on a document.
Hutchison pleaded guilty at an earlier mention to 30 offences including seven charges of possess dangerous drugs, seven charges of not being endorsed to possess restricted drugs and unlawful possession of restricted drugs.
Her charges also included fraud and obtain or deal with another entity’s identification information for purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an indictable offence.
He sentenced Hutchison to three years’ probation and fined her $1000.
No conviction was recorded.
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