Remember the ads that used to ask, “What would you do for a Klondike bar?” Well, it appears that if you asked Australian native Wendy Janine Baulch what she would do for a cruise, the answer would be, “knowingly commit fraud!”
What She Did
It seems that after over $93,000 was accidentally transferred into Baulch’s account, the unemployed house-sitter booked herself passage on the ms Amsterdam for a 36-day voyage from Miami to Sydney. But wait, there’s more! According to the Courier Mail, she also booked herself on a 30-day trip from Sydney to Myanmar! And while she did get to enjoy the first trip, the day before she was set to embark on her second voyage in February of 2015, the police nabbed her.
Did we mention that while on-board, she withdrew $15,000? You know, just to have a little on-board spending cash.
Guilty!
In helping his client to plead guilty on fraud charges, her attorney massively understated the scenario when he admitted that she, “ought to have put in an inquiry about an account that goes from $5,000 to $90,000.” He added that she was “always going to be detected” as she didn’t attempt to cover her tracks, not even bothering to use an alias.
Described by the paper as “devoutly Christian,” Baulch — who was released on bail shortly after her arrest — has supposedly been a Bible student since the incident, and told the court that she planned to work with the underprivileged through the Salvation Army in the future. A judge sentenced her to 18 months behind bars, with the sentence to be suspected after three months.
Featured photo: Wilson Hum/flickr