A Perth woman who faked her own death has been refused bail over new fraud charges.
The Financial Crime Squad said mother-of-two Karen Salkilld allegedly altered the details of bank accounts associated with two businesses including gym F45 Bassendean in October last year and May this year.
Salkilld is accused of attempting to gain access to payments meant for the businesses by transferring money from those accounts into her own personal bank accounts.
For the Bassendean business, police said the accused logged into the F45 owner’s account, used his details and falsely obtained $59,000.
In both cases, Salkilld allegedly raised false invoices and gained access to just less than $156,000 in total.
Police claim one of those accounts was her husband’s, who had already died, which was an account she set up and maintained.
F45 Bassendean owner Dasan Bracewell worked for Salkilld at her Dianella studio for about 18 months.
“She gave me a shot, it seemed really good at the start,” he said.
“I noticed that transaction and I called Mindbody and said, ‘What’s going on? I didn’t authorise this, this is not what I’ve done’.”
The 22-year-old quit in April and opened F45 Bassendean but he said a month later his business was hacked.
Business management company Mindbody believed Bracewell was responsible
“I put everything into starting here, quite literally everything, so $59,000 debt that they want me to pay back, I didn’t have that money,” Bracewell said.
This was until F45 stepped in and the money was returned.
“I trusted Karen for the whole time I worked there, I trusted Karen,” Bracewell said.
The writing is on the wall for Salkilld’s two F45 businesses in Dianella and Applecross, both of which are closed for good.
Salkilld’s lawyer indicated she would plead not guilty to the two new charges of gaining benefit by fraud.
The court was told that in a two-hour interview with police she denied any knowledge of offending.
She was refused bail in court last month.
A magistrate said there was a very high likelihood Salkilld committed a very serious and relatively sophisticated fraud while on bail for an even more serious and sophisticated fraud.
The court heard if Salkilld was released on bail there was a very high risk of her re-offending.
Salkilld will be sentenced for faking her own death in two weeks.
