A Sydney woman once named ‘Woman of the Year’ for her breast cancer fundraising has been ordered to face court after allegedly stealing almost $200,000 from her employer.
Julie McKinnery, of Caringbah in Sydney’s south, allegedly took $197,494.73 from Paragon Plumbing during her time as the company’s bookkeeper. Police say she redirected payments meant for suppliers into her own bank accounts.
The alleged six-year scheme came to light in September 2025 after staff identified an overdue $814 supplier payment while McKinnery was on annual leave, according to police documents reported by the Daily Telegraph.
“The accused had been diverting payments owed to suppliers to her own personal bank accounts,” police facts stated.
“This was achieved by the manipulation of supplier card files in the MYOB system.
“The accused changed the details of a supplier to a personal bank account. The invoice would then be paid and appear in Paragon Plumbing’s records as having been sent to the legitimate supplier, while the funds were instead transferred to the accused’s account.”
McKinnery was responsible for making company payments, arranging bank guarantees and overseeing supplier invoices as part of her role at the plumbing business.
Police allege she frequently concealed the transactions by restoring the supplier’s original bank details after each fraudulent payment had been processed.
She also allegedly overpaid or duplicated supplier invoices, then sought refunds for the additional amounts to be paid into her own account.
Julie McKinnery allegedly stole nearly $200,000 from her employer while working as a bookkeeper
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman once described McKinnery as a ‘fundraising powerhouse’
According to the police facts, McKinnery defrauded Paragon Plumbing through 202 transactions and made three unauthorised credit card purchases. The largest alleged fraudulent payment was $37,626.77.
After the missing money was discovered in September 2025, the company issued McKinnery with a show-cause notice.
McKinnery had previously earned praise in her local community for raising more than $75,000 for breast cancer research. She later admitted her conduct in a letter to the company, saying she would “take full responsibility”.
“I had been going through a very difficult period personally and wrongly convinced myself I was owed more for the work I had done,” McKinnery wrote.
“That was a terrible mistake and completely unacceptable – I’m totally ashamed of my actions and the breach of trust I caused.”
McKinnery was dismissed just days after posting photographs of herself travelling through Europe with members of her Facebook community group, “Julie’s Biggest Pink Breakfast”.
“Spreading the word through Turkey,” she wrote alongside a photograph of herself on a beach in southern Turkey. She later shared images from Greece and Venice, as well as photographs of herself by a swimming pool on a cruise ship.
Days after returning from the trip, McKinnery cancelled her annual “Big Pink Ribbon Breaky”, citing “personal reasons”.
McKinnery was sacked days after sharing photographs from her European holiday
She said she was celebrating the end of her holiday in Venice, before returning to Australia to plan her annual breast cancer fundraiser
‘It’s with a heavy heart that I share the news that the Big Pink Breaky won’t be going ahead this year,’ she wrote in an online post on September 22, 2025.
‘Due to personal reasons, I’ve had to step back from organising the event, and this was a really tough decision…Thank you all so much for your support and kindness during this time.’
When a follower later asked why she had cancelled the popular event, McKinnery replied: ‘Crazy times x’
She later pleaded guilty to five counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
During a recent hearing at Sutherland Local Court, McKinnery’s solicitor said she was prepared to repay every cent owed to the insurer that had compensated Paragon Plumbing for its losses.
She will be sentenced on December 15.
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