Kempsey woman Julia Cole pleads guilty to defrauding Hurford Hardwood timber company

A woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding a well-known northern NSW timber company out of more than $450,000 by creating a phoney log supply company and siphoning off payments.

Julia Cole will be sentenced in Port Macquarie District Court.

A woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding a well-known northern NSW timber company out of more than $450,000 by creating a phoney log supply company and siphoning off payments.

Kempsey woman Julia Cole made up a false timber log supplier called ‘Kay Coler’ to draw 15 payments from Hurford Hardwood.

Hurford Hardwood is a third generation family business operating across Northern NSW with a sawmill and processing facility at Yarravel in West Kempsey.

Payments ranged from roughly $11,000 to $27,000 from February to October, 2023, according to police.

The last payments police detected were made to the fake account of $54,544.96 on November 15; and then $134,378.53 on December 4 that year.

Kempsey woman Julia Cole made up a false timber log supplier called ‘Kay Coler’ to draw 15 payments from Hurford Hardwood.

In total, Cole fraudulently obtained $451,234, according to court documents.

Cole was granted bail on April 17 last year following her arrest and in February this year she pleaded guilty to the 15 charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The 54-year old has also pleaded guilty to a charge of dealing with the proceeds of crime (an orange ute).

Her matter was mentioned in Port Macquarie District Court on Monday where her lawyer told the court she was seeing a doctor for the “significant conditions she suffers from”.

The case was adjourned to June 18 for sentencing.

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