IMD

0001

A FORMER employee who stole almost $3.8 million from The Housing Trust in Wollongong to feed her gambling addiction has been sentenced to fi ve years’ jail.

Lalaine Agtarap of Figtree ploughed more than $21 million into pokies at Wests Illawarra, Collegians and Star City Casino after secretly siphoning funds from the public housing

provider between 2006 and 2013.Agtarap used her job as a data

entry clerk and administration offi cer to steal $3.79 million in 245 illegal transactions, each of which was authorised by

unsuspecting managers who did not realise the money was being transferred into Agtarap’s own bank account instead of its intended destination.

District court judge Paul

Conlon set a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years, noting Agtarap’s conduct was a “most serious” case of fraud involving a substantial breach of trust.■ REPORT: PAGE 5

Preschoolers Ella and Kylin give Big Fat Smile chief executive Bill Feld a push as he

races around Bellambi Point Community Preschool’s new bike track. It’s part of an eco-oriented outdoor play area which was

offi cially opened yesterday. ■ REPORT: Page 5

Picture: SYLVIA LIBER

A hot lap withking of the kids

IMD

0005

www.illawarramercury.com.au ILLAWARRA MERCURY, Tuesday October 21, 2014 5

mercury news 5

High roller clerk gets jailSHANNON TONKIN

Trust accused of ‘incredible slackness’LALAINE Agtarap was con-sidered a regular high roller atSydney’s Star casino a few yearsback.

The 51-year-old Figtree motherwouldn’t think twice about partingwith the maximum $100 bet on asingle round, as her nightly spendoften climbed into the tens ofthousands of dollars.

The only problem was it wasn’ther money she was flutteringaway.

That cash, totalling almost$3.8 million, belonged to TheHousing Trust in Wollongong, Ag-tarap’s former employer and thevictim of 245 individual acts offraud at the hands of the woman ittrusted with its multimillion dol-lar financial stream.

As a data entry clerk, Agtarap’sjob at the trust was to handle day-to-day transactions including man-aging the payroll, transferringfunds into different bank accountsand preparing financial reports.

In reality, Agtarap siphonedmoney from the trust betweenNovember 2006 and April 2013 bychanging the data on the trust’sonline banking system so pay-ments intended for internal trans-fer, or transfer to a third party,flowed to her bank account.

The thefts succeeded eventhough two managers had to enterapproval codes for the transac-tions to go ahead.

Agtarap then simply withdrew

the money and poured it throughpoker machines across the Illa-warra and Sydney, gambling morethan $21 million between 2006 and2013.

Agtarap’s outcomes included a$60,000 loss during a single visit toStar City, and two wins of morethan $100,000 at Wests Illawarra.

On Monday, District Court judgePaul Conlon sentenced Agtarap tofive years’ jail, with a non-paroleperiod of 21⁄2 years, describing herbehaviour as a ‘‘deplorablebreach of trust’’.

‘‘She regarded the trust as herown personal money tree,’’ hesaid.

‘‘It is a most serious offence.’’

However, Judge Conlon alsotook aim at the housing trust,which the court heard had notpicked up on the thefts for nearlyseven years, despite conductedquarterly audits on its accountsand the requirement for Agtarap’smanagers to approve her transac-tions.

‘‘It’s obvious her frauds weremade so much easier by the negli-gence of her supervisors,’’ JudgeConlon said.

‘‘It’s just extraordinary thatthese persons who had the respon-sibility of checking these transac-tions just neglected to do so.

‘‘It speaks of incredible slack-ness [by] that organisation.’’

Agtarap’s thefts came to light inApril 2013 after executives foundanomalies in the bank accounts.

She resigned soon after, endingalmost 20 years of employment.

Agtarap repaid $45,000 with aninitial bank cheque, and agreed toforfeit $32,000 in statutory entitle-ments as partial repayments.

She has since been declaredbankrupt, telling the court onMonday she had ‘‘lost everything’’,including her house.

Agtarap will be eligible forparole in April 2017.

Outside court, Agtarap’s lawyer,Aaron Kernaghan, said his clientaccepted her punishment.

“Mrs Agtarap is relieved thatthe court process is now finalisedand that she can look forward tomoving on with her life upon herrelease from custody,’’ he said.

New playscape captivates kids of all agesBREE FULLER

Challenging fun: Ella, Larnah, Kylin, Matthew, Savannah and Finn kick off Children’s Week by trying the new eco-oriented outdoor play spaceat Bellambi Point Community Preschool. Picture: SYLVIA LIBER

SQUEEZED onto a pint-sizedtrike in his business suit, BillFeld proved he was one of thekids as he raced around BellambiPoint Community Preschool’snew bike track on Monday.

The Big Fat Smile chiefexecutive sped along the twistytrack to the delight of hisminiature cohorts, showing themjust how much fun can be had byall in the preschool’s newly-

created interactive ‘‘playscape’’.Mr Feld officially opened the

eco-oriented outdoor play areaon Monday with Keira MP RyanPark, who helped secure fundingfor the project under the state’sCommunity Building Partnershipscheme.

The area encourages childrento explore their surroundingsand use their imagination, andincludes an artificial creek bed,climbing stumps, reading retreatand play equipment.

Mr Feld said the playground,which incorporates a lot ofnatural materials and textures,will help children develop betterphysical and social skills.

‘‘Investing in a gloriousplayscape [such as this] is reallyimportant for each child’ssensory development anddevelopment of both gross andfine motor skills,’’ he said.

‘‘Children play better and playfairer in a challenging playscapelike this one, rather than the

playscapes of 10 to 15 years ago... which were pleasing on theeye but lacking the interest thatpromotes children’s discoveryand development.’’

This is the 10th play areaMangerton playground designerIan Hibble has built for Big FatSmile in the past five years. Hesaid a great play area strikes abalance between practicality,safety, ease of supervision, andcreating an interesting and openplay environment.

PM hails Indonesia’s confident new era

Meet and greet: Indonesia’s newPresident, Joko Widodo, and TonyAbbott. Picture: REUTERS

PRIME Minister Tony Abbottbelieves Australia can take part ina wave of confidence sweepingIndonesia under the country’s newPresident, Joko Widodo.

Mr Joko on Monday became theseventh president of the world’slargest Muslim population and itsthird-largest democracy.

Mr Abbott said he was confidenthe could work with Mr Joko tostrengthen the important relation-ship.

‘‘I’m very encouraged by every-thing President Jokowi has said upto now, I really am encouraged,’’he said after witnessing the presi-dent’s inauguration. ‘‘He’s obvi-ously a charismatic and inspira-tional figure. I think there’s a waveof confidence and renewal sweep-ing Indonesia right now and I lookforward to Australia’s opportunit-ies to take part in the renewal andthe reinvigoration of this import-ant neighbour and partner.’’

The ceremony in Jakarta is alsoa chance for Mr Abbott to farewelldeparting president Susilo Bam-bang Yudhoyono, who gave specialattention to relations with Austra-lia throughout his decade-longtenure. When the relationshipsoured last year over reports Aus-tralia spied on Dr Yudhoyono’sfamily and friends, he eventuallyput personal effort into ensuringthe nations reconciled before heleft office.

The clean slate means Mr Ab-bott can at last put into action the‘‘more Jakarta than Geneva’’ for-eign policy style he promisedwhen elected.

The Prime Minister took his seatin Indonesia’s Parliament amongother leaders, including US Sec-retary of State John Kerry.

Mr Joko, popularly known asJokowi, has already signalled hiswish to become closer friends withAustralia. AAP

Gas exportsto rise withbills: reportAVERAGE households in mostmajor cities can expect gas bills tosoar by hundreds of dollars a yearas prices surge amid an emergingexport industry, according to areport from the Grattan Institute.

The think-tank’s energy programdirector, Tony Wood, argues theemergence of a Liquefied NaturalGas export industry over the nextfive years, worth about $60 billiona year, will actually raise prices asAustralians are forced to competein the global market for supplies.

Australia will also struggle tomeet its 2020 emissions reductiontarget, Mr Wood warns, as morecoal is used for electricity genera-tion in the face of rising gas prices.

In Melbourne, where 90 per centof homes use gas for all theircooking, hot water and heating, anaverage bill could rise as much as$435 a year, he said.

High gas users in Sydney willface a rise of about $225, whilehigh users in Adelaide will pay anextra $200 a year. However, peoplein Brisbane, where gas use is low,would not be hit so hard.

‘‘By 2018 east coast gas, added togrowing Western Australian sup-plies, could create the world’sbiggest gas export industry, worth$60 billion a year,’’ the report says.

‘‘The downside is that domesticgas prices will increase to com-pete with the higher prices thatother countries are prepared topay for our gas.’’

But Mr Wood says governmentsshould resist pressure to intro-duce subsidies.

‘‘Reserving or subsidising gasfor domestic use will add morecosts than benefits and do nothingto increase supply. And in the longrun, protection harms everyone,’’he said.

The report says for low users ofgas – those using a gas cook-top, forexample – the average bill risewould be less than $50 a year. AAP