Bryana Shera Turner convicted of 32 charges of stealing cash from City Beach till

A Bunbury retail worker has been found guilty of using an elaborate fake store returns scam to steal $9000. Bryana Shera Turner, 29, was convicted of 32 charges of stealing as a servant totalling $9001.37 while working at City Beach Bunbury for six months until April, 2022. Employed as store manager, Turner stole money from the cash register by creating fraudulent customer purchase returns and then keeping the “refunded” money. Turner had initially been fighting 66 charges of stealing as a servant in court, having previously pleaded guilty to seven other charges. However she was acquitted on 34 counts after Magistrate Michelle Harries could not be satisfied that certain items in question were fraudulent refunds. The court was told that multiple witnesses over the three-day trial spoke of shoplifting being a major issue throughout the City Beach franchises, and particularly at the Bunbury store. The fraudulent refunds were first discovered during an annual stock take, when staff members found several apparently returned items in the system that could not be found in store. The prosecution argument was that the vast number of missing items were a result of Turner’s fraudulent refunds, however Magistrate Harries could not be satisfied that the absence of these items could solely be pinned on the returns, and not the items in question being shoplifted. However various elements of the returns tipped off other staff members, and later management, that Turner was playing the system. These elements included the unusually high number of refunds Turner was issuing, that none of these was accompanied by a receipt, or that cash refunds were only given to cash purchases, the number of which Turner was on record to have put through the register being statistically unusual. Turner would also violate company policy to use her role as manager to count the cash registers at the end of the day by herself while she sent staff members to complete other jobs. Her stealing was brought to light by a staff member who at the end of the day noticed the registers were $10 short, noticing a $10 bill in Turner’s pocket and alerted senior management. The court was told Turner’s return scam had became so brazen that she started making refunds for items that were not in store, including a Calvin Klein jumper that had never been purchased from any City Beach store in Australia. Turner justified her actions in her initial sit-down interview with police by saying she was dealing with financial abuse at the hands of her abusive partner. The sentencing was adjourned until October as Magistrate Harries needed to double check the total amount of cash Turner had been convicted of stealing, and determine if that sum would impact her sentencing. Magistrate Harries said the normal penalty for the charges was a fine, however she needed to study several Supreme Court cases that may indicate that this level of conviction may result in a jail term, however she did say this was “unlikely”. Sentencing will be handing down October 10, with Turner released on extended bail.