R v Welda BACOLOD [2008] NSWDC 81

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Welda BACOLOD [2008] NSWDC 81

HEARING DATE(S): 28 March 2008 EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 28 March 2008

JURISDICTION: Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: See paragraph [12]

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - embelzzlement - obtaining money by deception - offending over a lengthy period of time - breach of trust

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

PARTIES: The Crown Welda Bacolod

FILE NUMBER(S): DC 08/11/0048

SOLICITORS: NSW DPP Christopher Levingston and Associates

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: Welda Bacolod appears for sentence today on nine separate matters. Seven of those were embezzlement as a clerical servant for which the maximum penalty is ten years imprisonment, and two are obtaining money by deception for which the maximum penalty is five years imprisonment. The offences were committed in a remarkably simple way, but that did not stop the offences being very serious indeed, involving lengthy criminality and a significant amount of money. The offender worked for the Swiss Hotel. She was involved in functions. It was her job to obtain and organise functions at the hotel. Of course, people that had functions at the hotel had to pay for them. All Ms Bacolod did was arrange for many functions to be paid for in cash and she would pocket the cash. She had to make some fraudulent entries in the books of account in order to cover up what she had done, but eventually when a reconciliation was done, it was discovered that she had been committing these offences over a significant period of time. In fact, the offences occurred over seven years and the total amount of money involved was 1.7 million dollars. The offence of embezzlement which covers the year 2006, offence six on the fact sheet tendered before me, involves almost a million dollars.