NAB Chermside branch manager Jenna Maree McCaskie given suspended prison sentence over $10,000 fraud

A former bank manager partly used $10,000 she fraudulently obtained from her employer to get a new puppy, a court has heard.

Jenna McCaskie was the NAB branch manager at Westfield Chermside. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

A former bank manager and mother-of-two partly used $10,000 she fraudulently obtained from her employer to get a new puppy, a court has heard.

Jenna Maree McCaskie, 32, committed “sophisticated” fraud using “intermediaries” over three months in her role as NAB branch manager at Westfield Chermside.

Ms McCaskie pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday after obtaining $10,743 from June 19 – September 21 last year.

Police prosecutor Harry Coburn said there was “a degree of sophistication” to the offence and no restitution had been offered, with Ms McCaskie since declaring bankruptcy.

“Part of her role was issuing refunds to correct errors over customer complaints,” Mr Coburn said.

“Over three months the defendant has fabricated complaints, issued refunds to persons who were often directly associated with her through friends or family.”

Mr Coburn told the court that the ultimate end for some of the funds had not been identified, but some of the money had been traced to Ms McCaskie purchasing a puppy.

Mr Coburn submitted a prison sentence of 9-12 months was appropriate, either partly suspended after serving three months, or wholly suspended for a period of two years.

Vanessa Ryan of Stewart Burr and Mayr Lawyers, representing Ms McCaskie, proposed an alternative sentence of lengthy probation with no conviction recorded.

Ms Ryan said her client had diagnosed anxiety and depression, she lost her job at NAB after the conduct was discovered and she had since lost two further jobs in finance.

The court also heard Ms McCaskie had more than $200,000 in unsecured prior debt. She is a single mother to two children aged 2 and 7.

The court heard Ms McCaskie was under “emotional and financial stress” at the time, which she attributed to her “poor judgment” in committing the offence.

Ms McCaskie client has completed a Certificate III in Early Learning and now has a permanent part-time position, but is only getting around $400 per week.

Ms Ryan said Ms McCaskie has no criminal history, and asked for no recorded conviction so that her Blue card would not be jeopardised as she hopes to work in education.

In sentencing, magistrate Megan Power said it was “an incredibly serious offence” that was “not easily detectable”.

“It was more sophisticated than somebody who works in a cafe and puts their hand in a till, or somebody who transfers one account into their own,” she said.

“Yours was using intermediaries, you were in a very trusted position as branch manager, it was a very significant breach of trust, you falsified disputes in order to resolve them and those around you – friends and family – benefited, and you got a puppy yourself.

“Some people might not have much sympathy for a big organisation [NAB] losing what would be to them a small amount of money, but it is an offence that affects many in our community – customers, those named in your transactions, and other branch managers whose actions will be met with more vigilance.”

Ms McCaskie was handed a nine-month prison sentence, which was wholly suspended for a period of 12 months. A conviction was recorded.