Kimberley College founding principal and daughter’s fraud trial imminent

An ex-principal and his daughter, both accused of embezzling from Kimberley College, have fronted court as their lawyers make wild claims about the cop investigating the alleged fraud.

The founding principal of Kimberley College accused of using the school’s funds as his own personal piggy bank has fronted court alongside his co-accused daughter, with their fraud trial now imminent.

Former principal Paul Thomson, his wife Jennifer Thomson and their daughter Amy Ferguson, who was the former chief financial officer of Kimberley College, appeared before Magistrate Mark Nolan at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.

The father daughter duo stand accused of using the school’s money to their own benefit in some way with the alleged offences dating back to 2012.

Mr Thomson and Ms Ferguson are facing multiple charges including employee fraud, extortion and computer hacking, with Thomson additionally charged with making false declarations and Ferguson facing an additional perjury charge.

Monday’s court proceedings were the first in the lead up to a joint trial between the father and daughter which is expected to call on 19 witnesses over seven days.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Thomson and Amy’s husband Kevin Ferguson face summary charges including receiving tainted property (money) and will have their matters separately finalised in the lower Magistrates Court.

Kimberley College’s former Principal Paul Thompson. Picture: David Clark

Acting on behalf of Ms Ferguson, Barrister Isaac Munsie claimed that the senior police officer leading the investigation into the Thomson-Ferguson family, lacked credibility as a witness due to his unexplained opinions and suspicions of the alleged fraud.

He also claimed the police officer was privy to at least two Kimberly College directors crafting their witness statements together in the lead up to the trial.

“You’ve got email correspondence from the other directors saying … words to the effect of we know one of the other directors had given a witness statement, can we see their witness statement so we can draft our own,” Mr Munsie said.

“Extraordinarily, he said well, I can’t give you a copy but if you contact that witness, (the) same one, they might.

“It’s extremely likely he knows the effect of what he did there so his credit is an issue.”

Tony Morris, who is representing both the Thomson’s, also said he’d like to ask questions regarding the lawfulness of the investigation, revealing he and Mr Munsie would be drafting yet another stay application for the matters.

“One of the issues in the stay application will be the conduct of the investigating officer,” he said.

Both Mr Munsie and Morris suggested that the Kimberley College directors who would be called upon at witnesses, be briefed by their own lawyers prior to the trial to avoid potentially incriminating themselves, with the court hearing they had already been served Australian Taxation Office notices for breaching their director duties.

The court also heard the defence lawyers would be raising an issue of “destroyed evidence” regarding an incident at Kimberley College in 2018 after Mr Thomson and Ms Ferguson were sacked.

A trial date is yet to be set.