Katia Pearsall fraud charge dismissed under Mental Health Act

A former senior adviser to previous mental health minister Bronnie Taylor had allegations of using her colleague’s credit card to pay for food and car rides dealt with under the Mental Health Act.

Katia Pearsall, 26, pictured with her lawyer Danny Eid appeared in Sutherland Local Court after Pearsall allegedly made 63 purchases totalling $1709.77 using a colleague’s credit card. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A fraud charge laid against a former senior adviser to a state minister has been dismissed under mental health grounds.

Katia Pearsall, 26, previously pleaded not guilty and applied for a charge of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception to be diverted under the Mental Health Act in Sutherland Local Court on Monday.

Pearsall was a senior adviser for NSW Mental Health Minister Bronnie Taylor when she allegedly used a colleague‘s credit card to pay for food and car trips.

A police statement of facts state Pearsall allegedly had her colleague’s credit card details linked to her Uber account from April 25, 2021.

The court heard Pearsall allegedly made 63 purchases totalling $1709.77, from April 23 to October 4, 2021 with purchases and trips occurring every couple of days.

Katia Pearsall was charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

Most of the Uber car charges ranged between $10 and $45, with two occasions the trip costing $50 and on one occasion there was a $70 charge, documents reveal.

Purchases were also allegedly made using Uber Eats from Crust Pizza, Oporto, Guzman y Gomez and other Italian, Indian and Thai restaurants across Sydney.

The court heard on October 12, the colleague looked at her bank app and saw a pending charge from Uber which she had allegedly not used since 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdowns.

She then attended Riverwood police station to report the alleged fraud.

Documents said police contacted Uber, which provided the name ‘Katia’ as a person who had used the woman’s credit card.

Pearsall allegedly told police she had no idea how her colleague’s credit card had been connected to her account because it had to be entered manually and noted she would be happy to repay the woman, the document said.

Police inquiries with Uber revealed there were two accounts which had purchases under the woman’s credit card.

One account belonged to the woman and the other was allegedly used by Pearsall.

Katia Pearsall was working as a senior policy adviser to Mental Health Minister Bronnie Taylor.

Police said the GPS coordinates of many of the Uber trips were allegedly to or from Pearsall’s previous home in Wolli Creek.

The court heard Pearsall had no criminal history.

Defence lawyer Danny Eid made an application to have Pearsall’s charge dealt with under Section 14, which allows a magistrate to dismiss a charge and discharge the defendant into the care of a responsible person, to treatment or rehabilitation, or without conditions.

If a magistrate dismisses a charge under Section 14, it does not necessarily indicate the charge against the defendant is proven or otherwise.

A police prosecutor did not oppose the application being granted, despite the number of offences but conceded the amount taken was not significant.

Magistrate Philip Stewart noted there was a significant amount of material tendered to court about Pearsall’s longstanding mental health illness which included depression.

Katia Pearsall’s charge was dismissed under the Mental Health Act.

The court heard Pearsall had been treated by psychologists and psychiatrists before she was charged.

Mr Stewart said it was not for the court to determine if Pearsall “had good or bad intentions” when she allegedly put her colleague’s credit card details onto her account.

He accepted there was a connection between Pearsall’s alleged conduct and her mental health issues, noting the amount of money taken was not significant.

Mr Stewart did not believe Pearsall would reoffend and noted she was continuing to seek treatment, adding he was “well satisfied it was a deserving case” to be dealt with under the Mental Health Act.

He dismissed the charge and ordered Pearsall to continue her treatment with her doctors.

A spokesman for Ms Taylor previously confirmed Pearsall no longer worked as a senior adviser for the former Mental Health Minister.