Joanna Kordos fronts court for defrauding three businesses

A cunning con artist ruined the lives of hard working families when she conned three businesses out of $550,000 in exchange for the supply of infant milk formula that never arrived.

Three companies paid $550,000 to fraudster Joanna Kordos for the supply of A2 infant milk formula which never eventuated.

A fraudster who fleeced three businesses out of more than $500,000 in return for supplying A2 infant milk formula ruining the lives of several families has been jailed.

Joanna Kordos, 57, used the $550,000 she fraudulently obtained to pay off a home loan and refunded only $85,000 after demands for payments were sent by lawyers.

She was sentenced to six months in jail and two-and-a-half years community corrections order after pleading guilty to obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

Food and beverage supply company D.J.Twins and All Xtreme Pty Ltd were among the businesses Kordos fleeced between March and May 2017.

County Court Judge Gerard Mullaly said Kordos made false representations to a business in March 2017 that her company would supply A2 infant formula for $335,520 and asked for a 10 percent deposit of $33,552.

Later that month, she provided what was purported to be an agreement between two companies for the supply of infant formula. This document was relied on by All Xtreme to place a second order for infant formula.

Failure to supply infant milk formula after obtaining $550,000 from three businesses has landed Joanna Kordos in jail.

The total price was $337,618 with a deposit of $167,840 and the company paid $135,288. She repaid $75,000 after demands were made.

Kordos obtained $364,924 from D.J. Twins Pty Ltd and repaid only $10,000.

“You had an established business but in the end, you used your young niece’s name and false signatures which made her then a director and company secretary,” Judge Mullaly said.

“These allowed you to operate these companies even though you were bankrupt and barred from having control and positions in any company.

“You prevailed on your niece to attend at a bank and withdraw $450,000 in a bank cheque which was used to settle a short term debt with a lending company. This paid off the loan for a house in Frankston.”

Judge Mullaly said victims lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and the impact was more than just money.

In her victim impact statement, Renata Hunter of All Extreme Pty Ltd, said with six children to take care of, the financial and emotional impact of Kordos offending have been profound.

She said the fraud has reverberated through various aspects of her life and contributed significantly to the breakdown of her marriage.

Jin He, of D.J.Twins, said the life of a hardworking family has been disrupted forever and stressed upon her marriage to almost a breaking point.

Judge Mullaly said Kordos’ moral culpability during the sophisticated and persistent offending was high.

“You knew or ought to have known you were deceiving the victims. There was or could not have been any basis for saying and doing what you did. It was clear dishonesty,” he said.