Banker who stole $340,000 from church collection plates to spend on overseas holidays and Louis Vuitton shopping sprees is jailed for five years
- Kerry Ann Keen was jailed for 5 years for stealing from the Catholic Church
- The money counter stole $340,000 from Church collections from 2010 to 2014
- She spent more than $400,000 on international holidays during this time period
- Keen also spent $97,000 on luxury shopping, including $26,716 on Louis Vuitton
- The Church noticed difference between their pre-counts and Keen's counts
- She was arrested in 2014 and found guilty of theft and aggravated theft last year
A banker who stole $340,000 from church collection plates to spend on lavish overseas holidays and Louis Vuitton shopping sprees has been jailed for five years.
Kerry Ann Keen, 55, stole the cash while working as a money counter for the company SecureCash between July 2010 and May 2014.
The cash logistics company collects, counts and banks money from various churches, including those run by the Adelaide Catholic Church.
Keen was found guilty of theft and aggravated theft last year and sentenced to five years in jail by Judge Stephen McEwen at the Adelaide District Court on Tuesday.
Former banker Kerry Ann Keen, 55, has been jailed for five years for stealing $340,000 from Adelaide Catholic Church donations between 2010 and 2014 (stock image)
'You've demonstrated no remorse or contrition, and you continue to deny the theft in the face of what is plainly overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence,' the judge said, according to The Advertiser.
'This was protracted, calculated dishonestly over a prolonged period involving a large sum of money to fund an indulgent lifestyle in breach of the trust afforded to you.'
In her four year on continuous offending, the 55-year-old used the money she stole to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Keen spent more than $400,000 on 17 trips around the world to the UK, the US, New Zealand, Tahiti and Fiji between 2010 and 2014.
During her holidays, Keen would often go shopping and spent $97,000 at retail and department stores.
Of the $97,000, she spent $26,716 on Louis Vuitton handbags, wallets, shoes and a purse that she bought from stores in Las Vegas, London, Venice and Australia.
But her theft did not go unnoticed as Catholic Church finance officers eventually found discrepancies between their pre-counts and Keen's spreadsheets.
Keen frequented the Louis Vuitton store in London (pictured). She spent $97,000 at retail and department stores, including $26,716 on LV products from stores in Las Vegas, London, Venice and Australia during her lavish holidays
Finance officers began to record the serial numbers of some notes while police had installed CCTV cameras in the Secure Cash office where Keen worked.
Keen was caught on video putting cash into her handbag and planned before she was arrested in July 2014.
She was arrested with $3,100 in notes on her, some of which had the same serial numbers recorded by finance officers, proving they were from taken from donations.
The thief planned to go on another holiday but was arrested five days before she could catch her flight.
Keen counted money for the Catholic Church 79 times, during which time the average count was $6716.15.
But after her arrest, the Church got an average of $10,201.30 each week for 23 weeks.
Keen was found guilty of theft and aggravated theft at the Adelaide District Court in December last year.
Judge Stephen McEwen said she was 'systematically, intentionally and dishonestly' understating the total amount of money collected and keeping a portion.
'I find she was doing so dishonestly, without the church's consent and without any right of claim,' the judge said in his reasons.
'In my view, those findings are the only rational conclusion from the entirety of the evidence.'
She returned to court on February 14 for sentencing submissions before being sentenced to five years behind bars on Tuesday.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide. Keen counted money for the Catholic Church 79 times, during which time the average count was $6716.15, which went up to $10,201.30 after her arrest
