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 business she worked for.

In October, Rebecca Lee Betts, 32, was charged with three counts of theft of property while employed as a clerk and five counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

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

She is accused of impersonating herself as the recipient of illegitimate invoices, paying herself additional wages and making unauthorized charges to company 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 allege that Ms. Betts identified herself as the recipient of 112 illegal invoices while working as a clerk for the company, totaling $620,071, and paid herself $55,626 in additional wages.

She is also accused of reimbursing her employer for the cost of servicing her car and making personal purchases on the company’s trading accounts at Bunnings and Officeworks.

The documents also allege that the defendants used a plumbing company’s fuel card, deceiving them by saying it had been destroyed.

It is also alleged that she stole a welding machine.

NSW Police have brought in a prosecutor who specializes in financial crimes of this scale to help with the case.

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