Amy Rebecca Matthews: former escort frauds thousands from client turned partner
A former escort has faced court after she defrauded thousands from her former client turned partner. Read what happened here.
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A former escort has admitted fraud after taking $10697 from her client-turned-partner’s business amid claims in court it was part of her relationship exit plan.
Amy Rebecca Matthews, 40, pleaded guilty when she appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court on Friday May 9, to two counts of fraud (dishonestly gain benefit/advantage).
The court heard $2000 was withdrawn in two separate $1000 transactions from the Goodings Transport bank account on January 1, 2024.
The victim business bank statement showed the money was transferred to Matthews’ pay ID for both transactions.
A day later on January 2, 2024 at 1pm, three iPhone 15 Pro Max phones were purchased from the Telstra shop at Australia Fair Shopping Centre and placed on a plan under the Goodings Transport Telstra account.
The court heard each phone was valued at $2899 each, totalling $8697.
Matthews was arrested by police on March 30, 2024 and while under police questioning, admitted to the transactions and the three iPhone purchases.
The court heard she told police she had been planning on leaving the owner of the business, Peter John Gooding, and figured she wouldn’t get any money to assist her in leaving.
She told police she took Mr Gooding’s phone and utilised his account access to transfer herself the money and she purchased the phones under the company account to set herself up financially.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Karen Friedrichs told the court the prosecution was seeking the total cost of $10697 to be paid in full restitution to Mr Gooding and so far, Matthews had made no attempts to repay it.
The court heard Matthews met Mr Gooding when he booked her to stay with him for the night while she was working as an escort but the pair soon began a relationship from October 2022 to January 2024 after Mr Gooding asked Matthews to move in with him.
“As per what she told police, there has been a violence outburst on the 1st of January 2024 and she made the decision that she needed to end the relationship,” Matthew’s defence lawyer told the court. “She didn’t have a bank card, she had no money and then resorted to commission these offences to basically enable her to get away.”
The court heard Matthews had plans to establish her own business and hadn’t yet had the capacity to start paying restitution.
Magistrate Louisa Pink said Matthews came before the court with an unenviable criminal history.
She noted Matthews had been attending a psychologist since June 2023 and attended four session over 14 months but said the report from the psychologist did not mention domestic violence.
Ms Pink mentioned Matthew’s letter to the court that said her behaviour wasn’t excusable and said Matthews had expressed remorse.
Matthews was sentenced to a six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 18 months.
She was ordered to pay the $10697 in restitution within 18 months.
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Originally published as Amy Rebecca Matthews: former escort frauds thousands from client turned partner
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