Former director Vickie Anne Vella who used over $1.2 million of company funds for her personal use, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in the NSW District Court to be served by way of an Intensive Corrections Order.

Ms Vella was the former director of Coast Reo Pty Ltd and Midcoast Reinforcement Pty Ltd. The companies traded as Newcastle Plastamasta, Central Coast Plastamasta and Port Macquarie Plastamasta and supplied plasterboard and steel to the Central Coast and Port Macquarie areas of NSW.

On 23 July 2026, Ms Vella was convicted after earlier pleading guilty to one charge of using her position dishonestly with the intention of directly or indirectly gaining an advantage or causing detriment.

Ms Vella was sole signatory to the Coast Reo and Midcoast bank accounts and between about 4 August 2016 and 5 April 2018 withdrew a total of approximately $1,216,806 and expended the funds on gambling, sequential cash withdrawals, iTunes and Star City Hotel Pyrmont subscriptions.

Coast Reo and Midcoast Reinforcement went into liquidation in 2018.

In sentencing Ms Vella, District Court Judge Smith said general deterrence carried significant weight in this matter to discourage those with apparent good character from taking advantage of the system.

As a result of her conviction Ms Vella is automatically disqualified from managing companies for five years until 23 July 2031.

The matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following a referral from ASIC.

Background

Ms Vella pleaded guilty on 10 April 2026 to an offence against s184(2)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The maximum penalty at the time of this offence was 5 years’ imprisonment, 2,000 penalty units ($360,000) or both.