Jodi Louise Nuske cross-examined over allegedly defrauding Bistro C, Noosa

A lengthy cross-examination of a Noosaville woman accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Hastings St eatery has exposed new allegations in court.

Jodi Louise Nuske leaves Maroochydore District Court. Pictured: Patrick Woods.

A Noosaville woman on trial for allegedly defrauding popular Noosa eatery Bistro C out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has returned to the witness box to make shocking claims about the venue’s bookkeeping.

Jodi Louise Nuske, 44, is on trial in the Maroochydore District Court after she pleaded not guilty to defrauding her former workplace out of more than $750,000.

December 13 marked day six of the trial.

Ms Nuske briefly finished her evidence in chief first on Tuesday, before her former boss, Bistro C owner Lorraine Banks was called back to the witness box to be cross examined by Ms Nuske’s defence counsel again.

There, she was questioned about new evidence Ms Nuske had told the court on December 12, including claims Ms Banks had given staff members expensive gifts, including a BMW convertible.

Jodi Louise Nuske leaves Maroochydore District Court. Pictured: Patrick Woods.

Ms Banks – who isn’t charged with any wrongdoing – told the court the convertible in question had belonged to her before she gave it to the staff member.

She rejected Ms Nuske’s claims the pair had a conversation about Ms Nuske being allowed to take payments from Bistro C in lieu of two rounds of maternity leave and 17 years’ worth of long service leave.

Ms Nuske then returned to the witness box to be cross examined by Crown Prosecutor Alex Stark.

There, she denied Mr Stark’s claims she was “playing the victim” and “lying through her teeth”.

She told the court she had provided fraudulent information to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on behalf of Bistro C during a GST audit.

She said she had been told not to declare cash payments Ms Banks had been taking out of the business as wages or income.

“I was entering sales as per the bank statements, as per my instructions ... I did know that that was illegal, but it was instruction,” she said.

Bistro C at Noosa. Picture: Gary Fooks

Mr Stark said this was, in effect, tax fraud, and Ms Nuske agreed.

It comes after Ms Nuske told the court on December 12 she refused to give out fraudulent information, and accused Ms Banks of committing tax fraud.

She said on December 13 her evidence in chief was that she did not want to sit through the audit and hand over the documents herself.

Ms Nuske then told the court she felt one of Ms Banks’ daughters was “jealous” of her due to Ms Nuske being given Power of Attorney over Ms Banks’ will, and her first thought after Ms Banks confronted her over the allegations was “what has (the daughter) done?”.

She rejected several claims from Mr Stark, including that she lived an extravagant lifestyle and beyond her means, and that she was trying to smear reputations of her colleagues - one of which testified as a witness and was accused of doings drugs in front of Ms Nuske.

The trial continues on December 14, where Ms Nuske’s cross-examination is expected to continue.

Originally published as Jodi Louise Nuske cross-examined over allegedly defrauding Bistro C, Noosa