Bookkeeper sentenced to 12 years for $2.8m fraud against Tully farming family

A disgraced bookkeeper has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for defrauding a Tully farming family of almost $2.8 million over a six-year period.

Michelle Kathleen Lawson, 53, systematically abused her trusted position to steal money from businesses belonging to the Johnston family, who employed her for almost two decades. Lawson disguised her fraud as wage payments to fictitious employees and through false invoices, the District Court in Cairns heard.

Lawson used $2.5 million to fund what Judge Joshua Treviño KC described as an "extremely lavish lifestyle". She used the Johnstons' money to pay for horses, education for her children, personal insurance bills, travel and accommodation.

"Your extravagance included spending almost $1 million of the money you stole on retail expenditure," Judge Treviño said. "A quarter of a million of that sum on clothing and shoes alone."

A forensic investigation could not account for $300,000, but the court heard Lawson accepted she used the Johnstons' money to buy into a clothing boutique.

Lawson worked in Tully and once served as treasurer of the town's business chamber. The court heard she co-operated with authorities "once the game was up" but did so "in the face of what was an overwhelming case".

"The use of funds for that purpose really underlines just how wickedly selfish and greedy your fraudulent activities were," Judge Treviño said. "You used the Johnston family's hard-earned money to pursue other business ventures that had the potential to reap you even greater financial rewards at their expense."

Lawson pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud, each related to different businesses set up for the Johnstons' banana and cattle farms, and associated farming services. The court heard the fraud occurred as the Johnstons dealt with cyclones and floods, and an outbreak of Panama disease in 2020 that temporarily forced them to stop producing bananas.

Judge Treviño said Lawson's guilty plea was not indicative of remorse, a view he said her psychological report backed up.

"What stands out when reading it, are your despicable attempts to lay blame for your fraudulent conduct at the feet of your victims," Judge Treviño said. "Without insight into your offending, you risk repeating your behaviours should you ever find yourself in a similar position of trust in the future."

The court heard victim impact statements from members of the Johnston family, who outlined how the emotional toll and financial consequences of Lawson's crimes would live with them for generations to come. The fraud cost them opportunities to buy neighbouring farmland and hire more staff, the court heard.

"To learn that someone I had trusted and helped for so long had been deceiving us every day and continuing to smile at us, was almost impossible to accept," 81-year-old family matriarch Jill Johnston said.

The Johnstons managed to recover almost $1.5 million through civil action, but the legal fees and related expenses cost them $500,000, on top of an emotional toll, the court heard. Lawson will be eligible for parole in August 2028.