Chief Magistrate hits out at insurance fraudster Olivia Rose Rodgers’ litany of lies

A makeup artist who scammed $65,000 from an insurance company claimed she was $50,000 in debt and that there was another person of the same name, a court has heard.

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A MOONAH makeup artist who defrauded her former employer of $65,000 has said a lot of things to multiple people that have “turned out not to be true”, Tasmania’s Chief Magistrate has said.

Olivia Rose Rodgers, 31, was due to be sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to 62 counts of dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage.

The court previously heard Ms Rodgers defrauded her former employer Bupa by making false claims against customer memberships, many of which belonged to her family and friends.

She would contact the customers, telling them money was arriving in their account, but that this was a mistake and they should transfer it back.

Ms Rodgers then provided customers with her own bank account details for these transfers to occur.

In January, the court heard Ms Rodgers was affected by a weight-loss medication at the time of her offending, which occurred between October 2015 and August 2017.

Court appearance fo rmakeup artists on huge fraud charges

The court was awaiting a psychologist’s report, but Chief Magistrate Catherine Geason found further clarity was needed because Ms Rodgers had told the author she had accrued significant debt, up to $50,000, which was not true.

“She had also told community corrections she was experiencing financial strain during the offending and was living off credit cards and had been dropped off the payroll at Bupa for two months, which was not true,” Magistrate Geason said.

“There’s a lot of things Ms Rodgers has told people that’s turned out not to be true, including telling police there was another Olivia Rodgers and [Bupa] staff had paid money into that account – that’s not true.”

Defence lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi said it was accepted that her perception of her financial pressure was not aligned with reality, but that her perception was a genuine one.

Police prosecutor Ann Edge previously said the beautician funded her “lavish lifestyle of excessive spending and living beyond her means”, including an overseas trip to Bali and thousands of dollars each month on living expenses and personal shopping.

“It’s difficult to accept that her perception about her financial position could be so skewed,” Magistrate Geason said on Friday.

“She’s run a successful business – she knows how to recognise and deal with money coming in and going out.”

Ms Rodgers has since established a successful business as a self-employed makeup artist.

The case was adjourned until next Friday.