Five years jail for $400,000 fraud

Marie Dawson, 57, was sentenced in Dubbo District Court to a five-year prison term for seven counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The charges related to 41 separate cheques and 409 electronic transactions. None of the money has been paid back, the court heard yesterday.

Dawson began working at the Coonamble company in 1993 when she was appointed as an administration officer.

In May 2005, she was given a management position and with it, the authority to access the board’s bank account.

The offences were born out of Dawson’s financial difficulties and all the illegally obtained money was used to support her family, the court heard.

“(Dawson’s father said) they took advantage of her nature and now she is destitute,” Judge Sir Robert Woods said.

“(He said) she was a slave to her husband.”

The court heard Dawson employed her son-in-law and transferred some of the money into his account.

The offences occurred between January 2004 and July 2007 when her employment was terminated.

Judge Woods called it a “serious white-collar crime” when handing down his sentence yesterday.

He said she was in a senior position of the company and in a position of trust.

“These crimes are difficult to detect,” he said.

“The offences involved careful planning.”

Dawson had no criminal record and appeared to be “genuinely remorseful”, Judge Woods said.

She was sentenced to one year and six months jail with a non-parole period of 13 months for the first three counts, from yesterday.

For the next two counts Judge Woods gave her one year and nine months jail with a non-parole period of 15 months, to date from May 28 next year.

And for the final two counts Dawson received three years with a non-parole period of 15 months , to begin on May 28, 2012.

That equated to a total of five years jail with a non-parole period of three years and three months.