Shepparton Secondary teacher Melanie Kilgour pleads guilty to Alexandra Community Hub fraud

A Greater Shepparton Secondary College teacher has admitted rorting almost $150,000 from the Alexandra Community Hub.

Melanie Kilgour aka Melanie Gourlay pleaded guilty to a rolled up charge of obtaining a financial advantage by deception. Supplied.

A thieving scoundrel who rorted a not-for-profit community centre for almost $150,000 claimed she handed the cash to cyber scammers.

Melanie Kilgour, 44, pleaded guilty in the County Court on Wednesday to a rolled-up charge of obtaining financial advantage by deception and a charge of using a false document.

Kilgour, who went by her married name Melanie Gourlay, stole more than $148,000 from Alexandra Community Hub in 2019.

Kilgour took advantage of her financial officer position to fleece $148,908 via 34 bogus transactions between July 8 and August 15.

The fraudster funnelled the dough into her own bank account.

Kilgour, who earned $70,304, signed her own death warrant when she forged ACH director John Cannon’s signature to transfer Hub cash to her own credit account.

The NAB discovered Cannon’s signature was not the same as a previously recorded one on their system.

When NAB contacted the director he told them he had not signed any banking documents and had been in South Australia at the time of the fraud.

Hub members reported Kilgour to police in August 2019.

Kilgour told authorities she needed to pay a builder for renovations on her house and that she had loaned $50,000 to a friend who had not paid her back.

Further investigations by the bank revealed the extent of Kilgour’s offending as a number of large transactions had been made out of the cheque account into the thief’s own.

NAB contacted another ACH director and the board treasurer, requesting they attended the local branch to discuss the issue where they confirmed there had been no authorisation for the redemption of the term deposit account.

However, Kilgour made a late submission that she was “scammed” by an overseas lover.

The court was told Kilgour claimed to be the victim of “cyber scammers” who she told there would be “no more money” after her rort was detected.

The defence submitted Kilgour transferred money to an online Bitcoin account where it was later withdrawn by the “scammers”.

Judge Michael Tinney said he couldn’t just accept what Kilgour spent the money on.

“(The home renovations) it’s false is it … what there a builder? What’s the cost of the house?,” Judge Tinney said.

“It’s impossible for me to act on submissions from the bar table … well the scammers aren’t (the builders) are they … these internet transactions mean nothing to me.”

The court was told Kilgour, who now lives in Kialla, sold her Alexandra house and $116,000 from the sale is held in a trust which will go to the Hub.

Kilgour, who is now employed as a teacher at the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, received various references including from a person at her current employer.

Judge Tinney extended Kilgour’s bail to face court again on June 24.

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