A Hobart school shop manager who stole more than $33,000 by processing fake EFTPOS refunds into her own bank accounts over nearly five years has been sentenced in the Supreme Court.
Cristie Anne Potter, 49, was on Friday sentenced to 15 months home detention after pleading guilty to one count of fraud.
The court heard Potter processed 170 fraudulent refunds while working at The Friends’ School shop between February 2018 and February 2023.
She had been employed at the school since 2007 and was responsible for overseeing transactions, managing the budget and supervising staff.
For almost a decade, she lived in a subsidised flat directly above the shop.
The offending was uncovered in February 2023 when the school’s financial provider flagged 14 suspicious refunds totalling $3,384.
Potter was stood down and resigned days later. She later sent a handwritten letter admitting to those transactions and repaid the money.
But a forensic accountant engaged by the school’s insurer found a further 156 fraudulent refunds, bringing the total to $33,752.
Potter voluntarily attended the Hobart police station in December 2023 but did not initially make full admissions.
She later emailed police, conceding “common sense dictated that the totality of the transactions cannot all have been legitimate”.
Justice Stephen Estcourt described the offending as of “high objective seriousness”, noting it escalated in both frequency and value over time.
He said general deterrence was a key consideration, given similar fraud could be easily committed and difficult to detect.
Potter must wear an electronic monitoring device for the duration of her sentence and report to Community Corrections.
She was also ordered to pay compensation to the school and its insurer, with the amount yet to be assessed.
