Woman pleads not guilty to stealing $700,000 from her Queanbeyan workplace through illegal invoices and extra pay

An alleged fraudster has denied stealing more than $700,000 from a small Queanbeyan plumbing company she worked for.

Rebecca Leigh Betts, 32, was charged in October with three counts of stealing property as a clerk and five of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The Latham woman is accused of making a total of $736,778 while working as a clerk for Pro Plumbing and Gasfitting.

She is accused of presenting herself as the recipient of unlawful invoices, paying herself an additional salary and making unauthorized charges on the company’s accounts between April 2021 and October 2023.

The woman appeared briefly in Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday where she pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Court documents show that Ms. Betts nominated herself as the recipient of 112 illegal invoices while working as a clerk for the company, totaling $620,071, and paid herself an additional salary of $55,626.

In addition, she is accused of charging the employer for the maintenance of her car and making personal purchases into the company’s trading accounts at Bunnings and Officeworks.

The documents also allege that the suspect used the plumbing company’s fuel card and misled them by saying it had been destroyed.

It is also alleged that she stole a welding set.

NSW Police have called in a prosecutor who specializes in financial crimes of this magnitude to assist with the case.

Ms Betts remains on bail until the case returns to court next year.