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A mother of five who defrauded a Tasmanian Council of more than $130,000 after buying household hardware items and other goods has been sentenced to 18 months home detention.
Casey Maree Bryant was working as an administrative officer with the Central Highlands Council when she set up a Bunnings membership account in the name of her employer to buy a lawn mower, tools, barbecue accessories, pet bowls, a cordless air inflater and a water feature valued at nearly $1,000.
She would organise the purchase order through the council, collect the goods, pay the invoice using council money and then enter data into the council system claiming they were for council use.
The 40-year-old also created unauthorised purchase orders to buy items from Battery World, Beaurepaires, and Brierley Hose and Handling for her family's use, but the most common order was through Bunnings.
There was also unauthorised use of a council United Fuel card for unleaded petrol purchases when the card was related to a council-owned diesel vehicle.
The court heard Bryant committed the offences between October 2012 and February 2020 when the family was experiencing significant financial expenditure which included mortgage payments, two car loans and thousands of dollars in IVF fees.
Bryant pleaded guilty to 19 counts of fraud, 41 counts of computer-related fraud, 116 counts of inserting false information as data, five counts of stealing by agent and 23 counts of dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage in January 2024.
Her husband Jamie Glen Bryant is jointly charged with six counts of fraud in relation to presenting fraudulent purchase orders to Beaurepaires, Bunnings and Harvey Norman, to which he also pleaded guilty.
The court was told the 42-year-old's conduct also extended to using the false identity of a council employee in an attempt to conceal his wife's fraud on her employer.
Court documents show a Bunnings employee alerted the Central Highlands Council of two purchases at a store in Glenorchy on February 11, 2020, which sparked an internal investigation.
During a sentencing hearing the court heard that the Bryants' actions have taken away funds from the Central Highlands community and ratepayers.
"That the fraud extended over a lengthy period and involved planned and calculated conduct … with Ms Bryant's offending only coming to an end when the discrepancy in the Bunnings account was detected."
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Stephen Estcourt noted Bryant is the primary carer for four children under the age of 10, including two newborn babies.
"If she was incarcerated the newly born twins would suffer as a consequence."
On Friday, Bryant was sentenced to 18 months home detention in the Supreme Court in Hobart where she will be subject to electronic monitoring and will be required to undertake 210 hours of community service.
She has also been ordered to pay $5,811 to the Central Highlands Council and $127,188 to insurance company AIG Australia Limited.
Her husband was sentenced to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay $4,894 to the Central Highlands Council.
Bryant was visibly upset when the sentence was handed down and hid behind a black hoodie as she came out of court.
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