Jody Thomson, former ‘Catch Me If You Can’ thief Jody Harris, investigated over fundraising
Queensland’s Attorney-General is investigating if a notorious former conwoman has been fundraising legally, amid new revelations she appears to have copied an award-winning charity’s appeal for donations.
Queensland’s Attorney-General has ordered an investigation into whether former conwoman Jody Thomson, previously known as “Catch Me If You Can” thief Jody Harris, has been acting legally as a prolific fundraiser.
The checks come as it can be revealed notorious ex-fraudster Thomson’s business appears to have plagiarised an award-winning charity when asking the public to donate money into its own bank account to help Indigenous children.
The Weekend Australian Magazine revealed some Indigenous community members were alarmed about Thomson’s fundraising, accusing her of lacking transparency and accountability around donations and failing to be upfront about her past. Thomson responded on Saturday by sharing on Instagram a picture of herself and her mother, prisoner advocate Debbie Kilroy, that had appeared in the weekend newspaper.
“T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE,” she told her 76,000 followers on the social media site. She also shared a screenshot of orders to her Aboriginal dolls business, declaring they had “gone up through the roof”, and thanked supporters “who shopped today and showed love!”.
Since 2021, Thomson has organised at least a dozen GoFundMes that raised more than $700,000 for charitable causes, and has made countless more appeals to the public to donate directly into the bank account of her business, Dreamtime Aroha.
Attorney-General Deb Frecklington immediately sought answers on the weekend to how Thomson was authorised to fundraise. “Queenslanders always give generously when people are in need and the Attorney-General is committed to ensuring trust and transparency in charitable fundraising,” a spokeswoman said. “The Attorney-General is concerned by the questions that have been raised by Indigenous community members and is seeking further information.
“The Office of Fair Trading will be making enquiries with the organisation in question to determine if an authority to fundraise is required and will take appropriate action if necessary.”
Newly appointed with the election of the LNP in Queensland, Ms Frecklington is also Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity and oversees the Office of Fair Trading, responsible for protecting consumers.
Non-charities wanting to conduct one-off fundraising for charitable causes in Queensland have to seek authorisation, or in some situations can be authorised through a registered charity, and either way have strict accountability requirements. There are some exceptions, such as if a person seeks donations for a child to go to a sporting event, or a family seeks donations to pay for a relative’s funeral, Queensland’s justice department says. In the case of national appeals such as those conducted by Dreamtime Aroha, fundraisers have to comply with diverse laws in each state and territory where people are donating.
When known as Jody Harris almost two decades ago, Thomson, 46, became infamous for stealing the identities of women across the country to fund a lavish lifestyle, and taunting police trying to catch her. She was arrested in a blaze of publicity in 2006 and is not known or alleged to have committed any offences since. Her new surname is adopted from the name of her now-estranged wife.
Dreamtime Aroha’s activities have raised questions about whether there is effective nationwide regulation and monitoring of non-charity fundraisers collecting large amounts from the public on platforms such as GoFundMe, Facebook and Instagram.
Concerns have also been raised about instances of alleged bullying and harassment by Thomson of Indigenous community members including small business owners. In response to questions from The Australian, she engaged a lawyer who threatened to seek an injunction and to launch defamation action, saying she had been the target of false and malicious online attacks.
Dreamtime Aroha is registered solely to Thomson and describes itself online as “not for profit”, but is not registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. New revelations of the business’s possible hijacking of a charity’s work will raise further questions about Thomson’s fundraising methods.
In August, Dreamtime Aroha solicited donations on Instagram to buy hair and hygiene products for students at the Northern Territory’s Nganmarriyanga School, in a post that attracted more than 5000 likes.
“URGENT!! What an absolute f*#kin disgrace that we are out here begging and pleading for these kids to have basic hygiene products,” the business posted.
Dreamtime Aroha’s post did not mention that the information that followed, along with accompanying photos of the school’s students, were word-for-word the same as in a post by acclaimed charity, the Remote OpShop Project. The original post on the Remote OpShop Project’s Instagram only asked people to send hair brushes and hygiene supplies to the school, not money, and provided no bank account details.
Dreamtime Aroha’s post added its bank account for public donations but did not have reference to the Remote OpShop Project. The business and the charity are not affiliated with each other.
“DONATE TO, NAME: DREAMTIME AROHA, REFERENCE: HAIR SUPPLIES,” Dreamtime Aroha posted with its bank account details.
The Remote OpShop Project supports op-shop development in remote Aboriginal communities, with an emphasis on reducing waste by redirecting items from landfill to communities that need them. It received a 2024 Australian Good Design Award, and founder Tanya Egerton was named AgriFutures Rural Woman of the Year in August. She was approached for comment. It’s unknown if there is another explanation for the matching posts.
The Australian has been told Dreamtime Aroha sent products to the Territory school. But the amount donated to Dreamtime Aroha for the school, and the corresponding amount spent on aid for the school, is unknown as Thomson won’t open the business’s books for public scrutiny.
Due to an overwhelming response, the Remote OpShop Project quickly closed donations of hairbrushes but said other hygiene products would always be appreciated. Two weeks later, Dreamtime Aroha again asked for public donations to its bank account to purchase supplies for the school.
In another case, an Indigenous woman said Dreamtime Aroha sent her organisation goods after asking the public for donations. But the organisation’s board members said they hadn’t approved the appeal or Dreamtime Aroha raising money into its bank account for the goods, she said.
