Cindy Johnston: Ex-UQ manager sentenced for credit card fraud

A former manager at the University of Queensland has been sentenced for a seven-year spending spree on company cards.

A former manager at the University of Queensland used company credit cards to live the life of Riley, purchasing cameras, kayaks, camping equipment, coffee machines, flights and accommodation, a court has heard.

Greenbank woman Cindy Marianne Jean Johnston, 50, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Tuesday to fraud as an employee of a value greater than $30,000 at an address in Springfield Central and elsewhere.

The Crown initially alleged Johnston, who was employed in her managerial role at the UQ School of Civil Engineering between July 2009 and April 2017, had spent more than $60,000 on the credit cards, but the amount now alleged was $32,738.98.

The court heard Johnston purchased a variety of leisure goods, including a kayak, cameras, camping and pool equipment, flights and accommodation, and other items including food, a fridge, and textbooks.

The purchase which ultimately brought Johnston undone was a coffee machine from JB Hi-Fi, detected on February 8, 2017.

Former UQ School of Civil Engineering manager Cindy Johnston, 50. Picture: Alex Treacy

When questioned about the receipt she submitted for reconciliation, Johnston told her superiors she had incorrectly been given the wrong receipt.

She then attempted to doctor a previous, legitimate receipt for expenses to cover her tracks.

Johnston resigned in disgrace several weeks later after UQ uncovered evidence of the scale of her fraud.

Defence counsel Nicholas Brown told the court his client had continued to work following her offending, including as a travel agent, and intended to keep working pending the outcome of today’s matter.

He said the mother-of-three had fully repaid the university, by way of forgoing her accrued entitlements with her resignation, and not reoffended since her fraud came to light.

Johnston was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment wholly suspended for an operational period of three years.