Registered tax agent, fraudster Kylee Suzanne Pryor avoids jail again

Kylee Pryor.

A REGISTERED tax agent who narrowly avoided jail last year for stealing more than $240,000 from a Hunter transport company has done it again, escaping a jail term for another $200,000 fraud relating to a separate company owned by the same man.

Kylee Suzanne Pryor, who is represented by solicitor John Anthony, was in 2000 trusted to be the sole signatory of the business account for Medowie-based company Farrell Transport while owner Michael Farrell was in hospital battling cancer.

But years later, during a period from about 2011 to 2017, Pryor, now 49, of Cameron Park, executed two massive, simultaneous frauds; transferring $240,000 from Farrell Transport into her own personal bank accounts and funneling $201,000 from Farrell Transport into Metal and Steel Haulage, also owned by Mr Farrell, and then into her own accounts.

She was jailed in 2018 for a maximum of 12 months in relation to the $240,000 fraud, but appealed against the severity and, after raising the funds to repay the entire amount, was placed on a two-and-a-half year intensive corrections order (ICO) that included 500 hours of community service.

But Pryor was not being entirely honest and did not disclose the other fraud. It was not until she was asked to resign in relation to the Farrell Transport frauds and the Australian Tax Office moved the business into liquidation that the Metal and Steel Haulage frauds were detected.

Again she pleaded guilty to multiple counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and on Monday in Toronto Local Court was given the benefit of it being her first offence for the second time, because the Metal and Steel Haulage frauds pre-date the Farrell Transport frauds.

And this time, Mr Anthony made it clear there was "no prospects whatsoever" of Pryor being able to repay the $201,000.

"She got involved in taking money and it kept going," Mr Anthony said. "It snowballed... people have intentions of paying it back but it never gets there."

Magistrate Andrew Eckhold said it was a "significant breach of trust", it was planned and Pryor received $100,000 benefit from the fraud. But he said Pryor should again be spared a jail term, placing her on an 18-month ICO with 300 hours of community service and ordering her to repay the $201,000 to Mr Farrell.

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