Three sentenced for $500k POPES Electrical fraud
Three POPES Electrical staff sentenced for $500,000 fraud over four years using fake invoices and stock theft.
Three staff at POPES Electrical defrauded the Canberra wholesaler of over $500,000 between 2016 and 2019. Ricky John Byrne, Steven Quilter, and his wife Lisa Quilter created fake invoices, diverted refunds to personal accounts, and stole stock directly.
Byrne and Steven Quilter, who managed the store, also sold stolen items on eBay and to other businesses. The three were sentenced to 24, 35, and 18 months respectively, though sentences will be served in the community via intensive correction orders.
Each offender must also pay restitution. The fraud was devastating: the 40-year-old business went from three Canberra stores to just one and lost more than half its staff.
- Over $500,000
- Total loss
- 2016 to 2019
- Fraud period
- $460,000
- To joint account
- From 3 to 1
- Stores lost
Why it mattersStaff fraud destroyed a long-established business and affected dozens of workers and customers.
AustraliaThe Canberra-based POPES Electrical lost two of three stores and cut more than half its workforce.
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