A Sydney bookkeeper who stole nearly $200,000 from her employer has pleaded guilty to five deception charges and is due to be sentenced on December 15.
Julie McKinnery, from Caringbah, diverted $197,494.73 from Paragon Plumbing during a six-year scheme, using her position to redirect payments intended for suppliers into her personal bank accounts.
Police allege the fraud was carried out by altering supplier records in the company’s MYOB accounting system. McKinnery would change a supplier’s bank details before a payment was made, then restore the legitimate information afterwards so the transaction appeared normal in the business records.
She was responsible for making account payments, arranging bank guarantees and managing supplier invoices. Police facts also allege that she overpaid or duplicated invoices before seeking refunds of the excess money into her own account.
The scheme came to light in September 2025, while McKinnery was on annual leave, when an overdue payment of $814 to a supplier was identified. Investigators said the alleged offending involved 202 transactions, as well as three unauthorised credit card purchases. The largest single payment was $37,626.77.
After the missing money was discovered, Paragon Plumbing issued McKinnery with a show cause notice. She later admitted the conduct in a letter to the company, writing that she would “take full responsibility”.
“I had been going through a very difficult period personally and wrongly convinced myself I was owed more for the work I had done,” she wrote.
“That was a terrible mistake and completely unacceptable – I’m totally ashamed of my actions and the breach of trust I caused.”
McKinnery was dismissed days after posting photographs from a European holiday on her Facebook community group, “Julie’s Biggest Pink Breakfast”. Her posts included images from Turkey, Greece and Venice, along with photographs taken beside a cruise-ship pool.
She subsequently cancelled her annual Big Pink Ribbon Breaky, an event she had organised to raise money for breast cancer research.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I share the news that the Big Pink Breaky won’t be going ahead this year,” she wrote in an online post on September 22, 2025.
“Due to personal reasons, I’ve had to step back from organising the event, and this was a really tough decision…Thank you all so much for your support and kindness during this time.”
McKinnery had previously been recognised in her local community for raising more than $75,000 for breast cancer research and was described by Cronulla MP Mark Speakman as a “fundraising powerhouse”.
During a recent hearing at Sutherland Local Court, her solicitor said she was prepared to repay the full amount owed to the insurer which had compensated Paragon Plumbing for its losses.
