Tablelands woman Marina Henne, 66, sentenced for fraud against her own mother

A “seasoned fraudster” who once added thousands to vet bills linked to the Black Saturday bushfires, stole more than $60,000 from her elderly mother to buy a new car.

The Cairns Court House building on Sheridan Street. Picture: Brendan Radke

A “seasoned fraudster” who once added thousands to vet bills linked to the Black Saturday bushfires, stole more than $60,000 from her elderly mother to buy a new car.

But she has refused to clarify where it is now, and hasn’t paid a cent paid back.

Tablelands woman, Marina Henne, 66, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after she manipulated her 86-year-old mother into giving her $65,000.

Crown prosecutor Matt Hancock told the court Henne said the money was for her daughter to pay storage fees on a camper van which would then be sold to return the cash.

“This left her mother with only $20,000 in her account,” he said.

Mr Hancock said the mother’s husband had died and she was retired and on a pension with only modest savings to live from.

The court heard Henne used the money to buy herself a new car from a dealership.

Henne told her mother a number of times the money would be returned soon as the daughter was going to sell the campervan.

Chief Judge Brian Devereaux SC said this was “clearly nonsense”.

Mr Hancock revealed the woman had a history of dishonesty offences and had previously served time in prison for fraud.

The court heard she used a fund to help victims of the Black Saturday bushfires while she was living in Victoria to obtain more than $3000 dollars for vet expenses after falsely changing an invoice which was only $300.

Henne was also convicted after she obtained $63,000 with further attempts to obtain over $150,000 from the ATO from false business activity statements used to make GST claims.

Mr Hancock said the fraud amounted to financial abuse of her mother who said in a victim impact statement she felt like she had “lost more than just money” — she had “lost a daughter”.

Defence counsel James Sheridan told the court Henne had experienced a troubled period around Covid and outlined a series of serious medical conditions his client was having treated while in jail.

“She has remorse and is sorry for the pain and suffering she has caused,” he said.

The defence did not offer any information into the whereabouts or condition of the car.

Judge Devereaux said Henne was a “seasoned fraudster” and told her “you did buy a car it must be somewhere”.

He recognised that due to her medical conditions her time spent in custody already, 602 days, had been serious punishment.

“Only for that reason am I willing to sentence as low as three years considering your history,” he said.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a parole release date of April 14, 2025.

Originally published as Tablelands woman Marina Henne, 66, sentenced for fraud against her own mother