A WOMAN from Orange who used another woman’s personal documents to open a bank account in Bathurst - and used the account to obtain more than $23,000 - has narrowly escaped a jail sentence in Bathurst Local Court.
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Lauren Maree Miller, 22, was convicted of making a false statement to obtain the money she spent on clothing, shoes, veterinary care and educational course as well as pay State Debt Recovery and motor vehicle repairs.
She has been ordered to enter a supervised good behaviour bond for two years at the Bathurst Court House.
Miller, of March Street, Orange will also pay compensation amounting to $23,006.06 to the St George Bank, Bathurst.
Police outlined the allegations against Miller in a statement of facts tendered by police prosecutor Sergeant Brett Donaghy, relating how Miller struck up a friendship with another woman she met while attending a course in March this year.
The other woman had made a verbal agreement, offering to assist Miller by providing her with documents to open a bank account so she could pay her debts with a personal loan, police said. Miller had been given a birth certificate, Medicare card, NSW driver’s licence and Change of Name Certificate before she attended the bank to open a Freedom account on March 18. Miller had obtained a card with the bank to obtain up to $12,000 credit by March 27 and in May she had drawn on the bankcard to buy items and pay bills.
The woman who had assisted Miller obtain the bank account had only become aware that a large amount of money had been drawn from St George Bank when the bank asked her to make repayments, police said in the statement.
The court ordered Miller to pay full compensation of $23,006.06 and enter the supervised bond for two years, reporting within seven days to the Probation and Parole Service, Orange to undertake courses and counselling.
