Frances Walshe, a former business manager at Melbourne High School, has been sentenced to two years in jail, with a minimum of 14 months in prison, after pleading guilty to stealing and dishonestly obtaining over $430,000 from the school over a decade.
None of the money has been repaid to the school. Walshe was first employed as an assistant bursar in 1994 and was later promoted to business manager.
On 254 occasions between January 2012 and September 2021, Walshe transferred funds from the school bank accounts to her account. On another 10 occasions, she altered payee details on invoices sent by the school so funds were paid into her account.
The thefts were uncovered after the school’s new principal, Tony Mordini, set out to address concerns about potential poor financial governance.
In November 2021, he met with Walshe and department staff, confronting her about what was then believed to be the theft of $47,000. An audit revealed she had stolen $432,546.88 from the school.
Account statements found in her office revealed originals with a white-out concealing her account details and copies that did not include that information because of the white-out.
Walshe turned to gamble after the end of her second marriage when her husband met another woman on a trip to the Philippines. On Monday, Judge Peter Lauritsen said Walshe had since sought help for her addiction to gambling and alcohol.
“Overall, I consider your prospects for rehabilitation to be excellent,” he said. He said Walshe would have been sentenced to a longer term of imprisonment if she had not pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
»Frances Walshe is sentenced to two years in jail«
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