Darwin family business owners tell of fraudster’s ‘gut wrenching’ $84,000 ‘betrayal’

The owners of a Darwin family business ripped off by their former trusted employee have detailed the ‘gut wrenching’ impact of a ‘betrayal’ that ‘turned our lives upside down’.

THE owners of a Darwin family business ripped off by their former trusted employee to the tune of almost $85,000 have detailed the “gut wrenching” impact of a “betrayal” that “turned our lives upside down”.

Kristy Louise Gall, 41, will spend her first night behind bars on Thursday after pleading guilty in the Supreme Court to defrauding Jake’s Steel and Welding of $84,753.02.

The court heard Gall made more than 200 unauthorised transactions from the business over almost four years, using the funds to pay for personal expenses, including childcare and holidays, while supposedly managing the business’s financial affairs.

In a joint victim impact statement tendered to the court on behalf of business owners Jake and Gail Kroonstuiver, Ms Kroonstuiver said the couple “don’t know if we will ever be able to trust anyone again”.

“We have basically stopped our life, postponed all of our dreams and put our plans on hold,” she said.

“Instead of us being able to retire and fulfil our dreams of travelling and enjoying our lives, we have spent the last three-and-a-half years trying to rebuild our lives and deal with losing all of this money, deal with the grief and stress of being betrayed while she has moved to Queensland and just restarted her life.”

Ms Kroonstuiver said the emotional toll of the offending had been “devastating” for her whole family, who all pitched in to save the business.

“Kristy betrayed not only us but the whole of our family and it has also taken a huge emotional toll on everyone,” she said.

“Two of our sons worked closely with Kristy for six years and they thought of her like a sister, they were both devastated over Kristy’s lies and deception.

“Our sons were working ridiculously long hours to benefit the business while Kristy was away camping and holidaying with us all while she was stealing from us and using the business to pay for her lifestyle.”

In revoking Gall’s bail, Justice Jenny Blokland said while a partially suspended sentence was still on the cards, some jail actual time for the offending was inevitable.

“I think whatever the assessment that I make in relation to exceptional circumstances, or taking a number of personal matters into account, I think the law is, at this stage, that there will have to be some time in custody,” she said.

Gall will return to court for sentencing on July 26.