A Mount Warrigal fraudster who swindled funds from her employer through an unsophisticated refund scam has been ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community service work.
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Charleigh Ann Cooper had no criminal record until she committed fraud during the four months of her employment at retail store Manchester Importer in Wollongong and Warrawong.
Court documents stated the 32-year-old was hired in September last year. The business started to investigate a series of "odd" transactions that were only happening when Cooper was rostered on.
Cooper nabbed a total of $1339 by taking items from the shelves and refunding them at the register - pocketing the cash. She also caused the business to lose $1100 by giving customers discounts through manipulating the price of products.
CCTV footage showed Cooper was the only one in the shop at the time of the transactions.
Cooper was fired on March 11 despite denying she had knowledge of the transactions. Her termination was confirmed in an email two days later, stating she had been investigated and was fired for theft.
She eventually owned up to her actions in an email on March 20, telling her employer she was "completely sorry" and "regrets everything".
Police arrived at Cooper's home on March 28 where she confessed to the fraud.
She was sentenced at Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
"You know what you did was wrong," Magistrate Claire Girotto said.
Cooper was handed a 12-month community correction order with supervision on top of the community service hours.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
