Former charity boss David Imrie convicted of fraud
A FORMER head of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing almost $100,000 from the organisation to bankroll an overseas getaway, horse racing and fine dining.
Inner West
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A FORMER head of Australia’s leading charity for litter reduction has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing almost $100,000 from the organisation to bankroll an overseas getaway, horse racing and fine dining.
David Hastings Imrie, 49, was the chief executive of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW when he processed dodgy payments for himself and billed the charity’s credit cards for personal purchases.
From February 2015 to December 2016, Imrie used the charity’s money to pay off personal debts, book a seaside resort in Thailand, buy shares in racehorses and splash on a $1056 meal at a top end Sydney restaurant.
The spending spree came to an end in February 2017 when auditors discovered invoices for primary school waste recycling programs had been fraudulently made out to the charity.
Imrie was arrested in August last year and pleaded guilty to 17 fraud charges in the NSW Local Court.
Magistrate Suzanne Seagrave found Imrie had betrayed the trust placed in him by the charity and sentenced him to 18 months in jail, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 months. He was ordered to compensate the charity by $89,829.48.
Imrie launched an appeal against “the severity” of the sentence in the NSW District Court last Thursday.
An agreed statement of facts obtained by the Inner West Courier details how Imrie used cheques, transfers and credit card payments to swindle the organisation out of $95,789.97.
Of that sum, $87,058 was fraudulently invoiced to the charity from two companies called PBM Business Consulting and Dynamic Education Consultants.
Investigations into PBM found Imrie had arranged for a friend to accept PBM payments and transfer the money into his personal account. Police said the friend had acted as an “innocent agent by Imrie to fraudulently obtain the funds.”
The documents also revealed Imrie used the charity’s accounts to pay for a $1035 meal at Sydney’s Tetsuya’s Restaurant, a $4904 reservation at Kalima Resort in Phuket, Thailand, and a $235 meal, also in Phuket.
In an email to board members, who questioned the expenses, Imrie said the resort fee was “done in error (by) accidentally clicking the wrong MasterCard when making Expedia booking”. He said he repaid the bill — a claim the charity refuted.
IN OTHER NEWS
The documents showed the majority of fake invoices sent to the charity were from Dynamic Education Consultants for supposed primary school waste and recycling education programs.
Investigators later discovered DEC’s registered phone number was subscribed to Imrie and the company did not have an ABN.
Police traced the payments to an account held in the name of a racehorse agent and charged Imrie with two counts of using fake invoices to buy $15,900 in racehorse shares.
In court, police submitted that Imrie “made no effort to reimburse” Keep Australia Beautiful NSW, which relies on donations and grants for its conservation efforts.
“It is apparent Imrie used his position as CEO of (the charity) for own his own personal means,” police submitted.
Magistrate Seagrave noted the guilty pleas entered by Imrie and the fact he had no past criminal convictions when handing down her sentence on July 7.
Imrie’s appeal returns to the District Court in September.
THE CHARITY RESPONDS
KEEP Australia Beautiful NSW has issued a response to the sentencing of its former chief executive.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Newtown-based charity said: “Our strong governance and robust policies and procedures enabled us to uncover deceptions and abuses of trust about 18 months ago.”
“Insurances carried by the organisation have assisted us to continue to operate during the consequent investigation and trial period,” she said.
“We are now committed to redoubling our efforts in leading behaviour change by engaging the community to continuously improve the environment.
“The board of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW would like to assure all our stakeholders, valued supporters and staff that the organisation remains in safe hands and has a strong and positive future as we strive to achieve our vision of an environmentally responsible and beautiful NSW.”