Sunshine Coast high flyers sentenced in court for fraud
Once known as prominent and successful figures on the Sunshine Coast, these fraudsters were brought undone when they came before the courts. See the full list.
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Charges of fraud are not taken lightly in the justice system and several Sunshine Coast high-flyers have the punishments to prove it.
Within the last 12 months, multiple prominent figures have faced Sunshine Coast courts charged with fraud, with some cases still ongoing.
These high-profile names have faced court on charges of fraud.
See the list below:
Jodi Louise Nuske
A Noosaville mum’s swindling of a popular Hastings St restaurant was described as “callous” as a jury brought an end to a 10-day trial on December 19, 2022.
Jodi Louise Nuske, 44, has been jailed for seven years after she was found guilty of defrauding restaurant Bistro C out of more than $600,000.
The charges came after owner Lorraine Banks was alerted to several unauthorised transactions from the business accounts, which she told the court Nuske was in complete control of.
Ms Banks told the court she later confronted Nuske with the evidence and Nuske apologised, and even offered to pay her back.
Ms Banks declined because she did not know how much had been taken and Nuske’s employment was then terminated.
The court was told she had swindled $768,888 and spent it on various payments and invoices, including school fees, tax payments and payments on a brand new home herself and her husband were building in Noosaville; but she was instead ultimately sentenced on the basis of having taken $612,675.82.
Nuske was found guilty of one charge of fraud by dishonestly gaining a benefit above $30,000.
She has not appealed the sentence.
Brett Andrew Gordon
Former Sunshine Coast financial Adviser Brett Andrew Gordon has been jailed after taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients’ self-managed super funds.
Gordon, 55, pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud from when he was the director of Refocus Financial Group Pty Ltd and Diverse Capital Management Pty Ltd and withdrew from his clients’ self managed super fund accounts from 2015 to 2018.
The court heard Gordon used the money, a total of $652,500, to pay for personal debts, credit card debts and tax.
Commonwealth prosecutor Lindsay Glenn said Gordon became a registered financial Adviser in January 2005.
“The defendant was a financial Adviser who advised at least 13 clients to invest in a property development company called Diverse Capital Management Proprietary Limited, which was owned and controlled by him,” he said.
“At least $1.362 million was invested.”
Defence barrister Mark McCarthy said not all of the funds were applied for Gordon’s own use with some used for business maintenance.
Mr Barlow sentenced Gordon to six years’ prison, with a probationary term of 18 months.
He has not appealed the sentence.
Scott Anthony Woods
A former Vantage Building Group manager’s decision to spend almost $30,000 of company funds renovating his Buderim home was motivated by greed, a court has been told.
Maroochydore District Court was told on April 17, 56-year-old man Scott Anthony Woods spent almost $30,000 of company funds in 2019 and 2020 to pay for subcontractors and materials to renovate his Buderim home – one of several properties he owned.
The court was told Woods disguised the expenses as construction costs for two townhouse developments in Sippy Downs and Cotton Tree, the court was told, but a company audit in October 2020 exposed his fraudulent spending.
He was confronted by his workplace and apologised for his actions and promised to repay the money, but was fired, the court was told.
Defence barrister Nathan Turner said a doctor’s report said Woods knew he made “a big mistake” but his actions were swayed by his financial status and pressures to complete projects within timelines.
Woods pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud and was sentenced to two years behind bars, suspended for three years.
He has not appealed the sentence.
Anita Margaret Humphreys
The former principal of a Sunshine Coast rental property management company has been jailed for fraudulently obtaining $70,000, and admitting bogus receipts in a court case against a tenant.
Anita Margaret Humphreys, also known as Anita Breen, appeared in a QCAT matter in July 2016 over a bond dispute with a tenant.
Maroochydore District Court heard on October 31 Humphreys sought compensation for alleged damage to the Little Mountain property, tendered 34 forged invoices for repairs that were never completed, and was awarded $1809.90 in compensation from the tenant in the QCAT case.
When the tenant was contacted by the new tenants to collect mail months later, she became aware the repair work had not been done.
“You induced the insurance company to deliver a total of $70,392.50 as a result of uttering those forged documents on 13 occasions,” Judge McDonnell said.
Defence barrister Nathan Turner said his client’s frauds were misguided attempts to keep her business afloat.
Mr Turner said Humphreys was the manager of Airtasker business Ladies Running Errands and the founder of a charity called the Sunshine Coast Kindness Pandemic.
Humphreys pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. She was sentenced to three years’ jail, which is to be suspended after she serves nine months in custody.
She has not appealed the sentence.
David Norman Bloomfield
Sunshine Coast man David Norman Bloomfield, 49, defrauded $245,000 from two people and spent it on his own “lavish lifestyle”, a court has heard.
Bloomfield pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court on July 11, 2022 to two charges of fraud.
The court was told Bloomfield had pretended to be an investor and promised the two victims incredible return on their investments.
Bloomfield then used the money on things like hotel accommodation, Qantas tickets, go karting, clothing, utility bills, limousine transfers, and even a $35,000 deposit for a $1.5 million home, the court was told.
Crown prosecutor Alex Stark said Bloomfield was uncontactable at times, despite telling his victims he was a “successful investor” who “could achieve results for them”.
Bloomfield would give multiple excuses explaining his absence ranging from his printer not working to his wife being in hospital, the court was told.
Bloomfield, who served in the Royal Australian Navy as a marine technician, gave a tearful apology to his victims in court.
He said he had been confident he could have turned their money into a higher investment but things had “unravelled” when he was unable to contact his business partners.
“There was a period in time where I was trading successfully but I couldn’t find them,” he said.
He was given a five-year sentence, which will be suspended for five years after serving 20 months in jail.
He has not appealed the sentence.
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