Harley rip-off denial

Accused bookkeeper tells court she was just following boss’s orders

THE Corio woman accused of ripping off almost $90,000 from Geelong’s Harley-Davidson dealership says every dodgy transaction she made was authorised by the business owner, her former friend.

But Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard the owner, widow Andrea DavisCurrie, was the person who brought the financial discrepancies to the attention of police.

The court was told she sacked her friend and bookkeeper Nicole Wall and her husband, Michael, in July 2012, and presented allegations of financial impropriety by them to police after a later audit.

Those allegations led to an investigation by specialist fraud detective Bruce Dunlop, resulting in Mrs Wall facing 77 charges, mostly of false accounting and obtaining financial advantage by deception. Mr Wall was not charged.

But Mrs Wall says she is not guilty, and has pointed the finger of blame at her former friend and employer, claiming the business underpaid its workers while Ms DavisCurrie racked up thousands of dollars in personal expenses on her company credit card.

She alleged the woman had “cosmetic procedures” and hair expenses paid for by the dealership, and that she also splashed out on diamond earrings and a Louis Vuitton backpack, purse and sun- glasses on her company credit card.

Ms Davis-Currie testified at the contested hearing last month, and Mrs Wall and Leading Senior Constable Dunlop took the stand when the case resumed yesterday.

Geelong Harley-Davidson was owned and operated by Ms Davis-Currie and her husband Greg Currie, who died in a diving tragedy near Queenscliff in 2008.

Mr and Mrs Wall were their close friends, and both worked in the business, taking more responsibility after the tragedy.

Sen-Constable Dunlop alleged Mrs Wall transferred $500 from the business to her own account in a “test-type transaction” the month after Mr Currie’s death, then fol- lowed with scores of other unsolicited payments over the next four years.

In total, it’s alleged the woman defrauded the business of more than $87,000, paying money to accounts belonging to her and her husband, and also paying some of their bills from company accounts.

It’s also alleged she transferred money to her daughter from the business.

But Mrs Wall told court yesterday she was simply following Ms Davis-Currie’s instructions.

Mrs Wall, who is now a mental health counsellor, speaker and trainer, said all staff at the dealership were paid award rates, and after Mr Currie died she discovered the workers had not been paid overtime or allowances.

She said she and her husband then calculated that he was owed tens of thousands of dollars for overtime and vehicle use.

Mrs Wall said her husband presented the figures in a spreadsheet to Ms DavisCurrie, who then told her to repay the cash incrementally.

“She asked me to put it through as a business expense because she didn’t want to pay any more . . . payroll tax,” the defendant said.

“It was with her agreement and knowledge at all times.”

The defendant said after a while her boss decided the round-figure payments looked suspicious, so she was ordered to transfer the money in random amounts.