Former Hockeyroo Kate Hubble has pleaded guilty to four charges of making and using false documents to obtain a financial benefit after she lied about having cancer and had her salary paid for by a beneficiary of the charity she worked for.
Hubble worked for charity Redkite, an organisation that provides support for young cancer sufferers and their families.
Her annual salary of nearly $75,000 from Redkite was covered by a beneficiary of the company – The Sydney Morning Herald reports the donor was a sympathetic parent who’d actually lost their child to cancer.
The 32-year-old forged a series of convincing medical certificates and letters from oncologists to support her claims.
The former Hockeyroo goalkeeper first told her colleagues at Redkite she had cancer in 2015, and forged medical letter from a Perth oncologist to support this. She said she was too ill to work.
At the end of 2015, she asked for a transfer to Redkite’s Sydney office on compassionate grounds.
Staff at the Sydney office grew suspicious in January this year when Hubble’s alleged condition deteriorated and they were sent text messages, supposedly from her friend ‘Jess’, telling them that Hubble’s heart had stopped in surgery.
Hubble claimed a portion of her liver and a tumour from her kidney had been removed and said in a text message: “I might get 6 months [to live]”.
“Jess” texted staff again in May to say Hubble was in intensive care.
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The charity released the following statement: “Redkite has provided every assistance to the NSW Police in investigating this matter. Our focus, as always, remains with the continual delivery of our essential support to children and young people with cancer and their families.”
Hubble will be sentenced on Friday.
