Harley dealership fraud case
A CORIO woman was yesterday accused of “taking advantage” of her grief-stricken friend and employer by draining tens of thousands of dollars from Geelong’s Harley-Davidson dealership.
The allegations against former bookkeeper Nicole Wall amount to deceptions of more than $87,000. But Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard the woman pocketed much more than that in unauthorised payments to herself after the tragic death of the business owner, Greg Currie.
Mrs Wall pleaded not guilty to 77 false accounting and deception charges at a hearing that closed yesterday, and magistrate Frank Jones will now determine her fate.
The charges arise from the fouryear period after Mr Currie died while diving near Queenscliff in 2008.
He owned and operated the motorcycle outlet with his wife, Andrea Davis-Currie, while their close friends Mrs Wall and her husband Michael were employees.
However, that friendship is in tatters, with Mrs Wall and Ms DavisCurrie making a series of accusations against each other in the criminal court hearing that closed yesterday.
Specialist police fraud detective Bruce Dunlop told court Mrs Wall made scores of dodgy money transfers from the Harley-Davidson dealership into her own accounts, and those of her husband and daughter.
While Ms Davis-Currie testified she did not know about the money transfers, Mrs Wall said the business owner authorised them after it emerged the firm had been shortchanging her husband and other employees on allowances.
She said agreements were struck to pay her husband back retrospectively for vehicle allowances of almost $200 per week and other money owed. Part of that deal allegedly resulted in the money being paid in increments as “expenses” to Mrs Wall’s accounts so as her husband’s income was minimised, along with the company’s payroll tax obligations.
Defence lawyer Costas Killias conceded Mrs Wall had admitted “under instruction, she made the entries which she knew were false”.
The defendant said: “I explained my discomfort (to Ms Davis-Currie) … but I was told it was part of my job … so I did it anyway”.
In the witness box yesterday, Mrs Wall also admitted ramping up her weekly pay in the months after Mr Currie died.
While Mrs Wall was only contracted to work 25 hours, she told the court she worked much more than that while her friend was grieving, and paid herself accordingly.
She admitted her extra hours were not authorised.
Pay slips presented in court showed the woman often paid herself for more than 40 hours of work, those hours increased by sick leave claims and enhanced by penalty loadings.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kerrie Moroney told Mrs Wall: “You completely took advantage of the vulnerability of the loss of Greg Currie to Andrea”.
But the defendant denied this, explaining she slept at her grieving friend’s home many nights to comfort her. “No, I didn’t take advantage of her vulnerability. I was extremely supportive,” Mrs Wall said.
“While you falsified the documents and stole the money,” the prosecutor responded.
Mr Jones will deliver his verdict at a later date.