Mother cleared of murder convicted of defrauding disability care and carer
Maree Mavis Crabtree, 59, was cleared of murder. She pleaded guilty to fraud of at least $140,000.
Crabtree faced Brisbane District Court. She admitted to falsely claiming carer payments for her daughter Tara from August 2017 while they no longer lived together.
She also pleaded guilty to defrauding Lifestyle Solutions disability care organisation of almost $140,000 over four years. She told them she was only temporarily in Queensland.
In May, she was cleared of murdering her son Jonathan with a drug-laced smoothie in 2017. She was also cleared of trying to murder him.
Murder charges tied to her daughter Erin, who died in 2012, were dropped in June. Crabtree was sentenced to one month in jail for the carer payment offences.
She was told to repay more than $12,200 from her disability support pension. She was released right away due to time already served.
- At least $140,000
- Fraud amount
- July 19, 2017
- Alleged murder date
- One month
- Jail sentence
Why it mattersThe case highlights how fraud schemes can span years. It also shows the contrast between serious criminal charges and financial crimes that reach resolution.
AustraliaAn Australian legal case spanning nine years ends with conviction on fraud charges rather than the original murder allegations.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 11 h ago
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