Felicity Tang guilty in Moorabbin Court after stealing more than $21,000 from Lululemon
An ex-employee who swindled Lululemon of more than $21,000 has faced the sour consequences after a joint police investigation exposed her “sophisticated” deception.
South East
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A “sophisticated” fraud burst into tears in court after she was caught stealing more than $21,000 from her workplace in just one month.
Felicity Tang pleaded guilty in the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on December 10 to one charge of obtaining property by deception and one charge of possessing proceeds of crime.
The court heard the mother had been working at popular fitness wear brand Lululemon when she swindled a Melbourne store out of $21,338, disguising her thefts through fraudulent refund transactions.
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Tang – who was crying throughout the court proceeding – conducted the “protracted” scheme over July and August of this year, before a joint investigation with Lululemon and Victoria Police uncovered her deception.
The court heard Tang had directed the funds to different credit cards under her name throughout her offending on “a large number of occasions”.
Magistrate Robert Stary called the offending “sophisticated and serious”.
“She was in a position of trust – in my view she does require intervention,” he said.
“The offending ... was sophisticated in the way it was perpetrated over a long period of time.
“It’s very serious.”
Mr Stary said he needed to address Tang’s offending in a way that “sent a message to other members of the community”.
“If you engage in this sort of behaviour, there ought to be proper punishment,” he said.
Tang was sentenced to a 12 month community corrections order with conviction.
She was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work, seek mental health treatment and repay the $21,338 to Lulu Lemon.
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