Woman sweats on $38,000 fraud sentence

A YOUNG fraudster has a nervous wait ahead as a Cairns magistrate ponders her fate.

Brieanna Dee Coutts yesterday pleaded guilty to fraud as an employee totalling $37,952.

Her former employer Ashlee Jones, of Ashlee Jones Homes, is her former brotherin-law, which acting Senior Constable Tayla Smith said was a gross breach of trust.

The lengthy offending occurred between May 2015 and December 2016.

Coutts had use of the business credit card and fuel cards.

The Cairns Magistrates Court was told that over 19 months Coutts made 232 transactions for unauthorised personal use.

“There was no clear motivated factor ... other than greed,” Constable Smith said.

Barrister Josh Trevino told the court that his client had paid all the money back before she had been arrested over this offending. Coutts was supported by her parents and partner in court.

Mr Trevino said the 23year-old was expecting her first child, which would make actual jail time more difficult.

Constable Smith argued for a term of imprisonment with actual jail.

However, Mr Trevino said there were exceptional circumstances.

He said her work history was exceptional and she had been employed until recently.

“She’s led a blemish-free life until this offence,” Mr Trevino said, adding that the boundaries between business and family had been blurred.

“She knew that the use of the card was not authorised for her personal use but ... she didn’t think it would be an issue.”

Initially she was using the card as her own and paying the money back, but the amount snowballed.

Mr Trevino said it was always her intention to pay the money back.

Magistrate Robert Spencer will hand down his sentence tomorrow.