The owner of Maroochy Bearings, located in Maroochydore, southwest Queensland, has been found guilty of fraud and attempted fraud, totaling AU$162,000.

Started in 2002 by Michael Stubbings, Maroochy had been cash-strapped from the start. By 2007, Mr. Stubbings had Scottish Pacific Group supplying its receivables financing.

But by then, Mr. Stubbings had begun siphoning off cash from the business. He later admitted to booking sales to nonexistent customers, using those receivables to tap more cash from Scottish Pacific.

An audit in October 2007 turned up the fraud, and Mr. Stubbings was charged. Approximately AU$130,000 turned up missing, and another AU$32,000 of fraudulent sales were awaiting financing.

In filing the criminal charges, the government prosecutor noted Mr. Stubbings showed a certain level of sophistication in the scheme. But the necessarily escalating nature of the crime meant "it was always going to come undone."

Mr. Stubbings has been sentenced to three years in prison; he will most likely be released after serving one year.

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