Helen Judith McNamara, 67, sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for forging cheques worth $230k

A remorseless 67-year-old woman who swindled a Queensland business out of more than $230,000 over eight years by forging more than 170 cheques – much of the money to fund a $300 a week lottery habit – has been jailed.

A 67-year-old woman who swindled a Queensland business out of more than $230,000 over eight years severely betrayed the trust of the owners who had treated her like family, a court has heard.

Helen Judith McNamara forged more than 170 cheques while working in the office of a Hervey Bay property maintenance company between 2011 and 2019, stealing almost $233,000 of cash.

The Brisbane District Court on Tuesday heard McNamara’s dishonesty was only discovered when the owners decided to close the business which was struggling financially due in part to the ongoing theft.

Crown Prosecutor Ron Swannick said McNamara had shown no remorse and claimed to have used much of the money to fund a $300 a week lottery habit.

Mr Swannick said the woman would write out the checks in the names of subcontractors regularly used by the company so it appeared they were paying standard business invoices.

However she would take the cheques to a bank and keep the cash for herself.

“It was obviously a long term very severe breach of trust,” Mr Swannick said.

“She was one of those people who were utterly trusted by the complainants, she was part of the family, she looked after their children, she was really part of their de facto family unit so it was a very severe breach of trust.”

Mr Swannick was skeptical of claims McNamara was remorseful and said she had made no offer of restitution to the victims.

Close up of lottery ticket with a marked numbers and a pencil

“There has been no apparent remorse to date,” he said.

“Certainly in the psychologist’s report there are a great mention of remorse and shame, the court might be interested to know when that remorse and shame arose whether it was during the course of the offending or simply afterwards when she’d been caught and detected and was facing the consequences.

“Because she had about eight years to develop a sense of remorse or shame about what she was doing and desist and she didn’t and she almost got away with it.”

Defence barrister Daniel Caruana said McNamara was not using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and “simply couldn’t explain” where much of the stolen cash had gone.

He said the 67-year-old suffered various health issues and would have a tougher time in jail than the average prisoner.

Chief Judge Brian Devereaux said McNamara had worked in the home office of the victim family, interacted with their children and been like part of the family which “heightened the sense of betrayal”.

Judge Devereaux said the theft averaged out to about $30,000 a year and the family felt “traumatised” by the loss.

He said McNamara’s offending was not sophisticated but was “very effective”.

“Your offending as you know was a terrible breach of trust,” he said.

“It had a significant affect on your victims and it was dishonesty over a long period of time.”

McNamara pleaded guilty to one count of stealing by clerks and servants.

The 67-year-old was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment which will be suspended after she has served 18 months behind bars.