Embezzlement repeat offender Allison Mae Leslie learns fate in court after $270k fraud

A 39-year-old accounts clerk, who stole $270,000 from a Tasmanian family business after failing to disclose an embezzlement conviction, has been sentenced in court.

Australian money file image.

A 39-year-old Tasmanian accounts clerk, who stole $270,000 from a family business after failing to disclose a previous embezzlement conviction, has been jailed for three and a half years in the Supreme Court.

Allison Mae Leslie pleaded guilty to committing 490 separate acts of fraud against her employer, Longford-based Optimo Awnings, over a three-year period from November 2016.

The court heard that Leslie had joined the Optimo’s administration team in 2014, and by 2016 was trusted to pay creditors, maintain accounts records, and process wages.

Justice Robert Pearce said Leslie used her knowledge of the firm’s computer systems to pay herself money for energy bills, air fares, and house insurance, and to pay down a debt she owed.

The court heard that most of the $270,574.08 Leslie misappropriated was paid directly to her own bank accounts, with the total loss suffered by her employer totalling $352,085.65.

Leslie’s fraud was discovered by chance in early 2020, and after declining to attend a meeting organised by her employer, she was sacked.

Supreme Court of Tasmania. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Richard Jupe

Justice Peace said Leslie’s plea of guilty avoided the need for a long and expensive trial, but that her remorse came only after she was caught, and following years of repeated dishonesty.

The court heard that Leslie had not yet paid anything back to Optimo, and had previously been jailed for ripping off an employer.

“In 2010 and 2011, when you were in your mid 20’s, you were employed by an eye hospital in Launceston,” Justice Pearce told the defendant.

“Over about 15 months, on 168 separate occasions, you manipulated the computer system to enable you to steal cash payments made by clients of the practice totalling $36,135.

“You were sentenced to imprisonment for ten months, seven months of which was suspended.

“Thus, in contrast to the great majority of cases of this nature which come before the courts, you are not entitled to the mitigation that the absence of any previous conviction or prior good character may have attracted.”

The court heard that a victim impact statement tendered by the owner of Optimo Awnings revealed the considerable personal, financial, and reputational damage Leslie’s offending had inflicted on him and his family.

Justice Pearce said that it was safe to assume Leslie would not have won employment at the company if she had disclosed her prior conviction

“You acted in a sustained, deliberate and considered way while maintaining the false appearance of honesty and responsibility,” Justice Pearce told the defendant.

“Apart from the resources required for these proceedings it took an enormous amount of work to analyse the extent of your fraud, reconstruct the accounts and deal with the business and taxation fallout.

“In summary, it is a case of a serious fraud involving a very substantial amount taken over a long period of time by a trusted employee. A substantial term of imprisonment must be imposed.”

Leslie was sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years from 31 October 2024, and ordered to serve half that term before being eligible for parole.

Originally published as Embezzlement repeat offender Allison Mae Leslie learns fate in court after $270k fraud