By Briana Shepherd, ABC
Karen Salkilld claimed she died in a car accident in Broome and provided documentation to the company, Insuranceline. Photo: Supplied
A woman who faked her own death to claim a life insurance payout of more than A$700,000 (NZ$786,693) has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Karen Maree Salkilld was sentenced in Perth's District Court, having earlier pleaded guilty to gaining benefit by fraud and to knowingly using a false record to defraud.
In February, the 43-year-old received more than A$718,000 (NZ$806,922) from an insurance company after claiming she died in a car accident in Broome in December 2023.
Salkilld provided a death certificate, funeral documentation and a letter from the coroner's court to the company, Insuranceline.
She made the application in late January and the funds were paid on 14 February.
During sentencing, Judge Vicki Stewart said Salkilld's offending was not opportunistic and therefore a suspended sentence was not appropriate.
She said Salkilld, who had been living beyond her means and accrued various large debts, had taken steps to begin the fraud in January and she had continued that deception until March when she was arrested.
The court was again taken through the facts, which included the details of how Salkilld opened a MyState Bank account in her former partner's name because she was the beneficiary.
There is no evidence the woman knew of the crime.
'Planned and relatively sophisticated'
Salkilld and the woman had been in a relationship for several years before separating three years ago, but the pair had remained friends.
It meant Salkilld had access to the woman's ID documents and was able to superimpose her own face onto the woman's drivers licence and passport to use as identification, and also set up an email account.
While she was initially successful in transferring funds to creditors, and to herself, MyState Bank froze the new account under suspicion.
That then led Salkilld to try other ways to free up the funds, including attending the Palmyra Police Station to get identification verified.
It was on her last visit to the police station, when she was pretending to be her ex-partner, that she was arrested.
Prosecutor Emily Roberts had previously described the crime as "planned and relatively sophisticated" and said it was not "victimless" because it involved a bank, an insurance company, police who certified documents and her former partner.
During her sentencing, Judge Stewart also raised the fact Salkilld's crime would have likely impacted other people's premiums.
Inspired by movie
Earlier, Salkilld lawyer's Max Crispe told the court his client had been inspired by a movie to fake her own death for money, however he did not specify which one.
During sentencing, the court was told of Salkilld's history, which included how she had received a $500,000 life insurance payment after her former partner died in 2018.
She has two daughters, born in 2012 and 2015, and had lived in Broome running an Aboriginal corporation for many years before returning to Perth in 2019, where she bought a fitness franchise.
Her former partner provided the court with a character reference and Judge Stewart told Salkilld she spoke highly of her.
"She expressed concern for you, your children and herself," Judge Stewart said.
Salkilld was sentenced to three years in prison. She will be eligible for parole after serving half of that.
Once the sentencing was complete, Judge Stewart issued court orders relating to the funds being returned.
An order for compensation to the sum of A$101,771.11 is to be paid by Salkilld to the insurance company.
A restitution order for funds in the MyState Bank account was also issued, with those in two parts, one for A$549,195.92 and another for A$67,995.97, the latter being held in the bank's fraud recoveries account.
- ABC