A young woman who spent more than $10,000 in stolen disaster payment funds on shopping has narrowly avoided jail after a Wollongong magistrate told her to reflect on her "despicable" actions.
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Bella Gill, of Dulwich Hill, was bailed to live with a relative in Berkeley after she dodged a court date in Newtown over the matter earlier this year. The fraudster faced Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday for sentencing.
Gill was identified by investigators as a key player in an elaborate disaster grant scam involving 40 other co-accused.
Strike Force Sainsbery was established to investigate fraudulent grant applications when COVID-19 support payments were made available during the pandemic.
Tendered court documents revealed the group would lodge dodgy applications using stolen or borrowed identification details, with Gill's bank account nominated as a main account for Service NSW payments to be deposited into.
After the funds landed in her account, she would transfer it into personal accounts held in associate's names before withdrawing it from banks or ATMs.
On October 7, 2021, Service NSW deposited $10,500 into Gill's account, with $6360 transferred in small amounts to an associate and her defacto partner.
She spent $10,000 in one year on shopping, she admitted to police when arrested in April last year.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, and failing to appear in accordance with a bail acknowledgement.
In court on Tuesday, defence lawyer Emel Ozer said her client had made a "big mistake" but that a sentencing report showed she was at low-risk of re-offending.
Ms Ozer added Gill had remained clean from the drug 'ice' since her arrest.
Magistrate Claire Girotto told Gill her actions were "despicable" and asked, "what were you thinking?"
"It's pretty despicable what you did," Magistrate Girotto said. "You are skating very close to going to jail for this."
Yet Magistrate Girotto spared Gill jail, citing she had no prior criminal history, and instead sentenced her to a two-year community correction order.
At this stage, it is unknown if compensation will be sought for the funds.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
