Supreme Court of Appeal rejects Joanne Irene Portese, convicted on two fraud charges against disabled woman

An atrocious Queensland fraudster who gambled away the inheritance of a severely disabled young mother represented herself to appeal the jury’s guilty verdict and her prison sentence.

Joanne Portese arrives at the Cairns court house with a relative. Picture: Brendan Radke

A former disability support worker who fleeced more than $60,000 of the $80,000 inheritance of a vulnerable woman with severe physical and cognitive disabilities had her appeal against a jury’s guilty verdict and her prison sentence thrown out, with a Supreme Court of Appeal judge scathing of her manipulative behaviour.

Fraudster Joanne Irene Portese, 57, was convicted on two fraud charges after a 12-day trial almost two years ago.

Three days after the woman got the first instalment of an inheritance, Portese quit her job as a carer and positioned herself as a mother figure and advocate for the 34-year-old woman, who has a rare degenerative mitochondrial condition and is wheelchair-bound.

A Supreme Court Judge suggested the foot injury of Joanne Portese was “manufactured” to enable her to adjourn her fraud trial. . Picture: Brendan Radke

Portese made 118 withdrawals totalling $60,185 over 17 months from the woman’s account, mostly at the Red Beret Hotel – six times in one day – and other venues with gambling facilities, and conceded one time she “may have played the pokies”.

Many times, she made cash deposits into her own account on the same day she withdrew cash from the woman’s account.

Portese also persuaded the woman to loan $20,000 to Catherine Fendley of Leading Support Solutions, for whom she worked as an administrative assistant, after Ms Fendley said the business, which held training courses at the Red Beret, was ailing.

Detective Senior Constable Lachlan McManus said Portese lived in "quite a nice beachfront home" at 38 Hibiscus St, Holloways Beach, when he executed a search warrant at her address in relation to fraud allegations. Portese paid $730 a week in rent. Picture: supplied.

The court heard Ms Fendley used $12,000 for house payments and $8000 for wage arrears and only paid back $5000.

Ten carers gave evidence at the trial, and on multiple occasions when Portese claimed the woman was with her, case notes from carers showed the woman was unwell, had seizures or was hospitalised.

Portese once made six withdrawals in one day while at the Red Beret Hotel in Redlynch. Picture: Supplied

“Ms Portese knew … the complainant was vulnerable to making unsound financial decisions and Ms Portese knowingly took advantage of that vulnerability,” Justice Debra Mullins said.

Justice Mullins said Portese used the woman as “her own personal bank”.

“She had a complete absence of remorse … she masqueraded as the complainant’s ‘substitute mother and advocate’ and manipulated her way into control of the complainant’s finances,” Justice Mullins said.

Cairns Supreme Court heard at trial the woman Portese stole more than $60,000 from had cognitive impairments and was likely to make “unsound financial decisions”. Picture: Supplied

“Of the recorded cash withdrawals, most appear to have been at taverns with gambling facilities … there was no doubt that a substantial majority of the $60,000 from 118 transactions was for Ms Portese’s personal benefit,” Justice Mullins said, noting the trial judge said it was “a protracted and callous course of calculated dishonesty” and a gross betrayal of trust.

Portese tried to say some of the cash was to pay bills, but the woman’s bank statements showed those bills were paid via transfers, not cash.

She said cash was used to pay for items like furniture and a new TV for the woman, but bank statements showed payments were made using the woman’s card, not cash.

The court heard most of the money Portese withdrew from the woman’s bank account was at premises like the Red Beret Hotel where there were gambling facilities and Portese conceded “she may have played the pokies”.

Portese took cash from the woman’s account when she was holidaying at Mission Beach Resort and the Gold Coast.

Dr Ian Wilson, a neurologist, said the woman had seizures, progressive muscle weakness and brain degeneration causing cognitive impairment and memory loss and her cognitive ability was in the bottom one to five per cent of the general population.

He accepted the woman had the capacity to make decisions for herself, although she would have been “very vulnerable to making bad decisions” and it would be clear to anyone who spent time with her that she had memory and cognitive issues.

Police launched a fraud investigation, determining initially the amount was $37,859 – and Portese got Catherine Fendley to issue a false invoice for that amount, for Portese providing services to the woman, the court heard.

But Ms Fendley admitted in court the services were never provided.

Judge Leanne Clare SC Judge Clare handed down a head sentence of five years and declined to set a parole date when the jury returned guilty verdicts.

In a judgment handed down on June 18, Justice Mullins dismissed the appeal with Justice Philip Morrison and Justice John Bond concurring.

Portese is serving time at Townsville Correctional Centre.

Originally published as Supreme Court of Appeal rejects Joanne Irene Portese, convicted on two fraud charges against disabled woman