Fraud Charges in Queensland
Fraud — 2026-10-30 — by Sacha Sarah Smith, Civic Law
What a fraud charge means in Queensland: what counts as fraud, meaning to pay it back or believing you were allowed, money from work, which court hears it, jail and criminal records, and paying the money back.
A fraud charge can come from everyday situations. Some people are charged after using a partner's or a parent's bank card without asking. Others are accused of putting through false refunds or taking cash at work, of taking a deposit for something sold online and never handing it over, or of putting something untrue on a form to get a payment.
All of these can be charged as fraud under section 408C of the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld). The one offence covers a forty-dollar purchase on someone else's card and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a business. What decides how a fraud charge goes is whether what was done was dishonest, how much money was involved, and whose money it was.
Centrelink, tax and Medicare matters are not charged under this section. They are Commonwealth offences , with their own court process and sentencing rules.
What Makes Something Fraud
Fraud is acting dishonestly to get money, property or some other benefit, for yourself or for someone else, or to cause someone else a loss. What is gained does not have to be cash. It can be goods, a service, credit, or being let off a debt.
Fraud reaches further than stealing , which is taking something that belongs to someone else. Fraud also covers getting someone to hand over money by telling them something untrue, using money you were trusted with for something other than what it was given for, and paying for things with someone else's card without their permission.
The court decides whether what was done was dishonest by the standards of ordinary honest people, not by the standards of the person charged. The prosecution does not have to prove that the person thought of it as dishonest at the time. It does have to prove what they knew or intended when they did it, because whether they were dishonest is judged on that knowledge or intention. Moving money out of an account is one thing for someone who knew they had no right to it, and another for someone who believed they were allowed to.
If You Meant to Pay It Back, or Thought You Were Allowed
Meaning to pay the money back is not a defence. The Criminal Code says that what you did can be dishonest even if you were willing to pay for what you took, or intended to return the money or make good the loss later. Someone who takes $2,000 from the business account to cover the rent, planning to put it back on payday, can still be guilty of fraud.
Believing you were allowed is different. If there is evidence that you honestly believed you were entitled to do what you did, the prosecution has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you did not hold that belief. The belief might come from a partner who had always let you use their card, or from money you honestly thought you were owed. The court decides what you believed from the evidence as a whole, such as messages, how the card or account had been used before, and what was said at the time.
When the Money Came From Your Work
Fraud by an employee against their employer carries a higher maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, instead of 5. The same higher maximum applies to a company director or officer accused of fraud against the company, an employer accused of fraud against an employee, and anyone who was given money or property to use in a particular way and used it for something else.
A higher maximum does not mean the case goes to a higher court. Which court hears it depends on the amount and on how you plead.
Matters involving work can begin with the employer's own inquiry, such as a meeting, a request to explain transactions, or a dismissal, before police are involved. What you say or write to your employer about the money can be given to police and used as evidence, so get advice before you explain anything. If police ask you to an interview, you do not have to answer their questions , and whether to answer them is best decided after you have spoken to a lawyer.
Taking cash or stock from work can also be charged as stealing rather than fraud. Stealing from an employer has its own higher maximum of 10 years.
How Much Was Involved, and Which Court Hears It
The amount also changes the maximum penalty. Fraud involving $30,000 or more, but less than $100,000, carries a maximum of 14 years. Fraud involving $100,000 or more, or where the person carries on a business of committing fraud, carries 20 years. Where the amount is under $30,000 and none of the work or trust situations above applies, the maximum is 5 years. The amount can be measured by the value of what was obtained, what you gained from it, or the loss caused to someone else.
A maximum is the most a court is allowed to impose. It does not tell you what sentence you will get. The court sets the sentence by weighing, among other things, how serious the offence was, the loss it caused, how far you were to blame, your history and your circumstances.
Where the amount is under $30,000, the charge is dealt with in the Magistrates Court . That is so even where the 14-year maximum applies because the money came from your employer. At $30,000 or more, the charge also stays in the Magistrates Court if you plead guilty. If you plead not guilty to a charge of $30,000 or more, it goes to the District Court .
The most a magistrate can impose is three years in prison. A magistrate can still send a case to the District Court in limited situations, the main one being where the magistrate decides it is too serious to be properly punished within that limit.
The amount the prosecution alleges is something it has to prove. If you accept that you did something wrong but not the amount alleged, that matters, because the amount can change both the maximum penalty and the court.
Will You Go to Prison, and Will You Get a Record?
Prison is a last resort. Fraud does not involve violence, so when sentencing for it a court must take into account the principle that prison should only be used as a last resort, and that a sentence served in the community is preferable. That does not rule prison out. Large amounts, a long period of offending and a breach of trust can all lead to a prison sentence, including for people with no criminal history.
A court can also find you guilty without recording a conviction. In deciding whether to do that, it must consider all the circumstances, including the kind of offence, your character and age, and the effect a conviction would have on your financial and social wellbeing, and your chances of finding work. That last point matters in a fraud case, because a conviction for dishonesty can count against you in jobs that involve handling money, holding a licence or being trusted with other people's affairs.
If no conviction is recorded, the finding of guilt is not treated as a conviction for any purpose. It is entered on your criminal history only so that it can be taken into account in later court proceedings, such as if you are sentenced for another offence.
Paying the Money Back
Repaying does not undo the charge. Whether what you did was dishonest is judged as at the time you did it, and paying the money back later does not change that.
It can reduce the sentence. In R v Allen [2005] QCA 73, a general manager in Cairns had used his employer's cheques and company credit cards for his own purposes over four years, about $66,000 in all. He had no prior convictions and pleaded guilty early. Before he was sentenced, he sold his family home to repay all of it. The District Court sentenced him to four years in prison, with 15 months to be served before release. The Court of Appeal reduced the time to be served to nine months, because the sentence had not properly reflected the full repayment. The President of the Court said that courts will never let wealthy offenders buy their way out of a prison sentence that is called for, but that repaying is a relevant factor in a person's favour and is often a real sign of remorse.
The court can also order you to repay the money or compensate for the loss as part of your sentence, on top of any other penalty. The order can set a time to pay, or the amount can be sent to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) to collect.
If you want to repay before court, get advice first about how and when to do it, particularly if you dispute the amount or the charge.
Civic Law acts for people charged with fraud and other dishonesty offences in Cairns and across Far North Queensland.
Fraud — Magistrates Court Plea
Complex Fraud