Nicole Ellen Millard faces Roma Magistrates Court on 27 charges related to fraud, drug supply

A Roma woman has appeared in court on a lengthy list of charges for defrauding multiple people of thousands of dollars. MORE HERE.

Nicole Ellen Millard faced 27 charges in the Roma Magistrates Court.

A woman has been released on parole, after being sentenced for a number of dodgy dealings that resulted in thousands of dollars being defrauded from multiple people.

Millard appeared by videolink from Arthur Gorrie Correctional centre to face 27 charges before the Roma Magistrates Court on July 18.

Of the charges before magistrate Michael Wood, only 12 could be finalised on the woman’s July court date.

The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to a total of four fraud charges, one charge of driving while disqualified, one drug driving charge, supplying dangerous drugs, and five breaches of bail.

Nicole Ellen Millard was sentenced for 12 charges in the Roma Magistrates Court on July 18.

Police prosecutor Ellysha Geddes told the court the woman’s first fraud charge was made after she redirected the Centrelink payments of the woman she was living with.

Ms Geddes said Millard was staying with the victim, and had found the victim’s Centrelink information filed in a cabinet in the room she was staying in.

Millard then used that information to redirect the woman’s disability support pension to her own bank account.

Police investigations found Millard had received payments totalling $2014.27 in December 2023 as a result of her fraud.

The court was told on at least two occasions, Millard posted an advert for a car in a Roma buy, swap and sell Facebook group.

Ms Geddes said Millard defrauded one victim of $5000 and another of $1000, by accepting payment for the vehicle without any keys changing hands.

Millard also pleaded guilty to defrauding a man she had met while playing the pokies at a Roma pub.

The court was told the victim had given Millard $20 so she could continue playing the pokies.

Millard was playing the gambling machine beside the victim, and when the victim got up to go outside, putting a reserved sign on his machine as there was still credit, Millard proceeded to play on his machine.

She then won more than $100, which she then used in credit on her own machine, eventually winning about $600.

Ms Geddes told the court Millard was charged with supplying drugs after a police search of her phone on January 11, 2024 revealed texts Millard sent asking a friend if they would like to buy “weed”.

The court was told Millard was busted driving while disqualified on July 5, 2023.

Ms Geddes said police had intercepted Millard, and checks revealed she was not the holder of a current licence. Millard told police she was driving herself to the hospital, but she later self-discharged.

On January 7, 2024 the woman tested positive for methamphetamine during a roadside drug test.

The court also heard the woman breached a number of bail conditions, including allowing her electronic tracking device to run critically low, attending a prohibited address and breaching curfew.

The court was also told she had an extensive criminal history of like offending, including previous fraud convictions.

Millard’s representative, Brad Skuse, told the court the 40-year-old had been schooled in Roma until year eight, and had struggled with misuse of substances.

Magistrate Michael Wood described Millard’s offending, particularly in relation to the interception of another person’s disability pension as “a gross breach of trust”.

“The fraud was unsophisticated, and detection inevitable, but in any event it is unacceptable.”

Millard was sentenced to nine months behind bars, with 180 days of pre-sentence custody declared as time served and she was immediately released on parole.

The woman will appear in the Roma Magistrates Court on August 21 on the balance of her matters.

Originally published as Nicole Ellen Millard faces Roma Magistrates Court on 27 charges related to fraud, drug supply