Geelong
Friday, 9 January, 2015
Connecting people and communities
STUDENT HOUSING PLANS COLLAPSE P3
BAN CALL DIVIDES LETTERS P16
Phone: 5249 6700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808
COUNTRY ROCKS FESTIVAL P19
Huge tax return theft By PAUL MILLAR A GEELONG tax agent lived the highlife at Crown Casino by drawing funds from trusting clients to feed a massive gambling addiction, the Geelong Magistrates Court heard yesterday. Looking ashen faced, after a night in custody, Kaylene Maree Hussen glanced over a Perspex screen toward family members as the court heard that she could have stolen up to $700,000 from clients, many of them elderly. She has been charged with obtaining property by deception, obtaining financial advantage by deception, theft and
Tax agent alleged to be a gambler make use of false documents. Detective Senior Constable Paul Mitchell told the court that there were potentially almost 150 victims and that the 55-year-old mother of four adult children had allegedly been operating a Ponzistyle scheme. “The amount of charges could go to four or five per victim, so we are looking at potentially up to 400 to 500 charges,” the detective senior constable said.
The investigator said it would take some time to determine how many of Hussen’s clients were also victims. “We will not know a correct figure for a long-time but from 23 victims it’s over $200,000,” he said. Records obtained from Crown Casino showed that since 2002 Hussen and her husband had lost more than $1million at the gambling centre, the court heard.
“In 2014 she spent 104 days at Crown Casino and was there for up to five hours at a time and she had accumulated three million points on her Crown card,” he said. “She has admitted to us that she has an extreme gambling problem … it appeared to be of some relief that this finally over,” the detective added. Evidence would show that money transferred from the accounts of her clients to her own trust account coincided
with her visits to the casino. During the bail application hearing it was revealed that she had made full admissions about the scam but had been protective of her family and cast no blame on her husband, who had been to the casino when she was on her gambling sprees. She was granted bail on the understanding that she not attend gaming venues, not engage in taxation matters, not leave Victoria and that she abide at her son’s home in Torquay. She is on a $10,000 surety and will face court again on April 10.
Climate change waits for a treat
YUM: Fred Child and Thomas Hall on the waterfront. 132801
Picture: Reg Ryan
Geelong experienced its own form of climate change this week, living up to its maxim: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes - it’ll change. With everything from blazing sun to pouring rain and a bit of wild wind thrown in for good measure, holidays-makers could be excused for puzzling about their next activity. Fortunately the region was able to provide sufficient indoor distractions to keep families amused. These two didn’t let the weather get in the way of a good time, however. Fred Child and Thomas Hall had an ice cream to deal with, and that took all their immediate attention. As far as they were concerned, the next change could wait for five minutes.
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