A PAYROLL officer who stole more than $80,000 from North East Water was jailed yesterday after a magistrate described her excuse for the rip-off as “rubbish”.
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Albury woman Tania Maree Harrison, 43, claimed she stole the money — between 2007 and just before she resigned in 2011 — as a payback for being overworked.
The excuse curried no favour with magistrate John Murphy, who said the substantial sum of money stolen and Harrison’s apparent lack of remorse meant she had to be jailed.
Harrison showed no emotion as a policewoman led her to the cells after Mr Murphy sentenced her to 12 months behind bars.
She must serve at least four months in jail before becoming eligible for parole.
Police prosecutor Sen-Constable Wayne Taylor said Harrison, of Macauley Street, did the payroll for all of North East Water’s employees.
From September 2007 she began directing extra money into her pay, usually on a fortnightly basis but only after North East Water’s financial controller had signed off on every other employee’s pay.
She did that 68 times up until
she resigned in September last
year.
The total value of the theft was $83,251.80, of which $23,050 was paid to the Australian Tax Office.
Sen-Constable Taylor said Harrison, who pleaded guilty to one count of theft, had six Hume Building Society bank accounts over those four years, with three of the accounts used for the stolen money.
The amounts Harrison took varied; she took a few consecutive payments of $1000 in 2010 and one in August, 2009, for $3800.
The final two amounts she stole were $4999.80 in July last year and $6000 — split between three accounts — at the end of the following month.
Sen-Constable Taylor said Harrison claimed the thefts were “not about the money” but showing North East Water she was “burnt-out”.
He said Harrison further claimed her time with North East Water “was all work, work, work and as such it was all about teaching North East Water a lesson”.
Mr Murphy rejected this argument, pointing to how Harrison appeared to get her present job quickly after leaving North East Water.
He asked defence solicitor Greg Duncan why she didn’t get another job earlier.
Mr Duncan argued that despite Harrison’s offending, she nevertheless was loyal to the water authority as she worked there for 12 years.
Mr Murphy ordered Harrison immediately hand over a $6000 bank cheque she brought to court and gave her six months to repay the balance of the $60,201.80 owed to the company.
The court was told Harrison had already worked out an arrangement with the tax office to repay the other $23,050.