Australian schoolteacher Melanie Kilgour, who became the victim of an online Bitcoin romance scam after misappropriating funds from her former employer in 2019, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to fraud charges.
She is also subject to a two-year community corrections order, which includes 150 hours of unpaid community service, and was ordered to repay A$148,908.85 in restitution to her former employer, the Alexandra Community Hub in north-eastern Victoria.
Ms Kilgour pleaded guilty in March this year to charges of defrauding the ACH via multiple transactions. It was alleged that $50,000 was lent to a friend who failed to pay her back, and that an undisclosed sum was spent on repairs to Ms Kilgour’s house.
The County Court of Victoria was told that the remainder of the funds had been sent in Bitcoin to an “overseas lover” in an apparent romance scam. The scammer cashed out the amount and later disappeared.
The fraud was detected when it was found Ms Kilgour had forged the signature of ACH director John Cannon.
Kilgour Gives Her Side of the Story
“I am gutted and extraordinarily remorseful for my actions in 2019,” Ms Kilgour wrote in a letter emailed to Crypto News Australia ahead of her sentencing on 1 July in the Victorian County Court. “I seem to have successfully smashed 30 years of achievements in a [relatively] short period of time. This has affected my mental health and put added pressure on my beloved parents, siblings, friends and colleagues, so I find it hard to forgive myself and [I] can never forget.”
Ms Kilgour was dealing with both her parents’ cancer illnesses, an abusive ex-husband, and an unscrupulous builder who was renovating her house when she found herself in a “lonely and vulnerable” position.
I have worked very hard all my life. I understand that one in four women fall victim to romance scams by people who prey on the lonely. Along with losing all of my own savings, I then took money from my employer, to my shame and horror, with no real understanding of the total amounts. My mental health at the time made me feel suicidal.
Melanie Kilgour
Forced To Step Down From New Job
Ms Kilgour found new employment in 2020 at Greater Shepparton Secondary College, also in rural Victoria, but fallout from her court appearance and subsequent negative publicity forced her to step down from the position.
I had never committed a crime before this time or re-offended since, and never will because I have to keep going to support my children and do what’s best for my family. I have suffered greatly and sacrificed a lot to do the right thing since I took the money. I just want the opportunity to be able to keep working hard to pay back my debt to society … with hope of a better future.
Melanie Kilgour
Australians lost over $850 million to scams in 2020, according to a report last month from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) also reported that in just three months last year (March-May), the rate of online romance scams involving cryptocurrency increased by 20 percent.
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