A Canberra woman has told her employer she was tired of being poor, after he caught her out over a fraud of more than $160,000.
Jennifer Doone Morris, 50, is behind bars after she was sentenced to eight months in jail in the ACT Supreme Court today.
Morris took the money over an eight-month period when she worked at Project Lighting.
Court documents show Morris adjusted the bank account details on invoices from a particular supplier so the money went into her own accounts, before changing the information back to avoid detection.
On several occasions she forgot and another worker accidentally paid money into her account.
The payments had labels including love, holiday, fuel, food, rent, ACT Rego renewal and Project Lighting P.
Morris was discovered when she sought approval to pay invoices to the supplier, when her boss knew there had been no order for some time.
Morris sent her boss an email in which she admitted to the embezzlement, said she was "tired of being poor" and that she was ashamed and would hand herself in to police.
Justice John Burns said he appreciated Morris had done it to meet the demands for money and goods from her children.
But he said: "Employees who misappropriate the funds of their employers can expect punishment."
"Your moral culpability … was quite significant."
Justice Burns sentenced Morris to eight months in jail, but she will be released in five months, with the rest suspended.
Morris was also ordered to pay reparations.
