Kaye Ferguson: Former financial officer sentenced over Mulwala Water Ski Club fraud

A financial officer at a Mulwala club transferred thousands to offshore accounts after her online lover said his employees died in an explosion.

A judge has sympathised with a former financial officer who defrauded the Mulwala Water Ski Club for $1.1m after she claimed she fell victim to two online dating scams.

Kaye Leanne Ferguson, 59, was sentenced to a three-year intensive corrections order in Albury District Court on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to three sequences of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

After ten years in the job, Ms Ferguson transferred $1.1m from the club to multiple offshore bank accounts between December 2020 and January 2021.

Ms Ferguson told the court she did so after she met two men on the dating website ‘Single 50s’ after separating from her husband in January 2020.

Ms Ferguson was first scammed by a man in June 2020.

The court heard the man blackmailed her into transferring him $130,000 of her own funds, threatening to reveal explicit photos of her to her children if she didn’t.

Ms Ferguson later met a second man, William David Rodavan — an engineer from Melton living in Melbourne who travelled overseas frequently.

While on a phone call in November, Ms Ferguson heard a loud noise and Mr Rodavan hung up, calling back days later claiming he had been involved in an explosion that killed several of his employees.

Mr Rodavan told Ms Ferguson he needed money to pay the families of the people who died, resulting in Ms Ferguson transferring $225,000 of her own funds.

Having exhausted all personal funds, Ms Ferguson took the club’s money on 27 occasions.

She transferred a total of $1,064,000 at the direction of Mr Rodavan, $10,000 of which she paid back to the club out of her savings.

She also took $40,000 to pay for renovations that had already begun on her Yarrawonga home, which she said she “desperately” needed to pay the builders.

This home was later sold to pay back the club.

In January 2021, Mulwala Water Ski Club CEO Peter Duncan went to Ms Ferguson’s home where she collapsed on the floor in hysterics, admitting what she had done.

“Kaye, you need to tell me what’s wrong,” court documents state he said.

“I am a bad person and I want somebody to shoot me,” Ms Ferguson said.

“Kaye, you need to tell me what you have done,” Mr Duncan said.

“I have stolen money from the club,” she replied.

“How much? One or two hundred thousand?” Mr Duncan said.

“No. Over one million dollars,” she said.

Judge Sean Grant said Ms Ferguson was “sad, lonely, depressed and vulnerable” when she fell victim to the scam.

“The desire for a relationship … is a part of the human experience,” Judge Grant said.

“Catfishes and dating scammers are sophisticated ... she too is a victim.”

The court heard Ms Ferguson had repaid $300,000 to the club so far. Aside from her car and a few personal items, the court heard she owns nothing else.

Judge Grant said the club’s $700,000 net loss “has and continues to have a significant and detrimental effect on the club”.

The court heard Mr Duncan also felt the club’s reputation had suffered as a result.

Ms Ferguson was sentenced to a three-year intensive corrections order to be served in the community.