Volunteers at the Tallangatta Bowls Club are keen to move on after a former secretary and treasurer stole nearly $12,000 from the group.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Neilson wrote 10 cheques out to cash between June 2017 and July 2018, and banked 15 cheques into her own account between December 2017 and August 2018.
There were further discrepancies which could not be proven.
Secretary John McCoy said it had been "a bit of a nightmare for a while" at the small club, but things were starting to look up.
"We're overcoming it and we're back on our feet," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"As a club, we're just glad it's over."
Neilson made multiple appearances in the Wodonga Magistrates Court before the charges were finalised this week.
Mr McCoy said it was clear the stolen money would never be returned.
"We're only a little club, it would really hurt any club but when it's a smaller club it's really hard to get the dollars in," he said.
"It's been a big strain for the lot of us."
The club has about 25 members and the fraud was discovered when a Bowls Victoria notice that had supposedly already been paid was received.
Members looked into the matter and found discrepancies and the investigation was handled by detectives.
Mr McCoy said measures had been put in place to avoid similar incidents in the future.
"It makes us very wary," he said of having the club's trust broken.
"It makes us much more stringent on how we operate things.
"There's been a system set up where we can follow everything online with the bank.
"I'm just astonished by the amount of stolen money she took."
Neilson has been banned from attending gaming venues as part of the court order.
Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here
