An affidavit was lodged with Yorketown Police, which claimed Sainsbury stole $3167 from the Coobowie Tennis Club within a two-month period – the majority of it, money from annual membership fees paid by children.
The affidavit reveals Sainsbury allegedly withdrew $3167 via direct transfers to her personal bank account however, she tried to repay a sum of the money, returning $1160 before she left the club $2007 short.
19 transactions are included in the affidavit, all of which are said to be fraudulent, with withdrawals of $55, $150, $200, $502, $300.
This news broke on Radio 5AA on August 22 where club spokesman, known as Mark, revealed the money was taken from the club members, many who were juniors.
“It might not sound like a lot but for a small club like ours it represented 60 per cent of our entire revenue,” Mark said.
Sainsbury began working at the seaside town's Tennis Club in 2015 and was appointed treasurer in September of that year.
Only two months later, the club held a special meeting to fire Sainsbury, when they realised she had not paid club debts to the local sports store and newspaper. However, back then, the club was not aware that she had allegedly taken any money for personal use.
According to The Advertiser, The Coobowie Tennis Club found out about the theft earlier this year when it contacted a local bookkeeper, Joanne Forbes, to audit its books before it applied for Council grant funds to resurface its courts.
"As a result of this examination a number of transactions that appear to be fraudulent have been discovered," the affidavit states.
Because Sainsbury is facing a potential of 30 years in a Colombian jail over cocaine smuggling charges, police have are not preparing charges against her at this stage.
