Jail for $232,000 fraud

A 76-YEAR-OLD Toowoomba man with no criminal history has been jailed for a $232,000 fraud.

Terrence Kenneth John McLean owned and operated Select Caravans in Toowoomba from 2001 to 2019 when the business was put into liquidation.

Part of his business included McLean selling caravans on consignment for other people, Toowoomba District Court heard.

However, when the business fell on hard times, he had sold caravans but instead of handing over the money to the sellers after taking a commission, McLean had pocketed the cash.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court when one of the caravan owners complained, police investigations began and ultimately found 12 victims had been ripped off between $10,000 and $30,000 over a period between July 2016 and October 2019.

Ms Friedewald said nine of those 12 victims had received no money at all while three had been repaid in part.

McLean had made false representations to the victims, telling some that he had been scammed out of the money and so couldn’t repay them, she said.

McLean pleaded guilty to the fraud which totalled $232,500.

Most of the victims were pensioners in their 60s or 70s and through victim impact statements put before the court they told of the significant impact the offending had on them.

McLean’s barrister Isaac Munsie told the court his client was bankrupt and couldn’t repay the loss.

McLean had sold up to 200 caravans a year so the number of victims was a small percentage of customers though he was very sorry they were left out of pocket, Mr Munsie told the court.

So affected had his client been by the business failing he had spent time in a hospital’s mental health unit, Mr Munsie said.

All the money had been put back into the business to try and keep it going, he said.

“He is a person who had a business that was failing and he wasn’t prepared to accept it,” Mr Munsie submitted.

Judge Katherine McGuinness said by a psychologist’s report on McLean, she accepted he felt shame for the effect his offending had on the victims.

She also noted McLean had sold the family home to try and prop up the business.

Judge McGuinness sentenced McLean to five years in jail but ordered the term be suspended after he had served 12 months in custody.