Jail for $146K theft

A trusted employee who stole over $146,000 from her boss of 15 years has been sentenced to 23 months in jail.

In Tauranga District Court today, Lesley Hunt, 54, was convicted on one count of theft for offending spanning three-and-a-half years and totalling $146,175.60.


A Gate Pa woman has been sent to prison for stealing over $146,000 from her employer by using the company's merchant card.

Judge Robert Wolff declined to make an order for reparation because it would be 'unpractical”.

'The best way for the victim to reclaim any money lost would be to pursue a civil matter,” the judge advised.

The offending took place from April 29, 2010, and October 6, 2014, when Hunt, from Gate Pa, used a merchant card belonging to Triac Lighting, Sound and Visual Hire to put refunds into her personal account.

Business owner Neil Turner says the woman had worked for him for 15 years and was a trusted employee.

'She was someone I would tell everything too,” says Neil. 'I would quite often go into her office and vent out my frustrations and concerns with her. She had intimate knowledge of the company.

'About two to three years ago, my wife and I noticed something was wrong because the company profits didn't reflect the work that was being done.

'My wife suspected that my office lady (Hunt) had been helping herself to the bank account. I changed all the security codes on the bank account so I was the only one that had access to it. This continued.”

Suspicions were raised again when Neil's wife questioned how Hunt was living beyond her means and had the money to build hot rods and go on cruise.

However, Neil refused to believe it was Hunt and for the last 12 months he had been talking about moving out of his work premises in Judea to try and save money.

He says: 'In this time, I had asked my accountant about why I wasn't making money and I had asked Lesley, who was really my only employee, why we weren't making money.”

Neil initially put the loss of money down to paying off a bank loan, rent, insurance and other outgoings that come with running a business.

While perusing a bank statement in October, Neil noticed two lots of $500 that had come out of the account over a space of three days.

'I had noticed these Paymark transactions before,” he adds. 'I would get a bill from Westpac and a bill from Paymark, who handle these transactions. I just thought they were fees or something.

'I was feeling pretty depressed at this stage. I had already priced some containers and told people we were moving. When I saw this, I was angry. I thought Paymark was taking these transactions for fees.”

Neil questioned the transactions with Paymark and was sent statements for the past five years which showed them occurring on a regular basis.

He went to Hunt about the transactions, who said she didn't know anything about it.

Upon further investigation, Neil found out that Lesley had been using the company's merchant card to refund transactions back into her own bank account.

'We take a bond when we do a hire and most of our transactions are done on Eftpos,” he explains.

'We tell the person to bring their card when they come back and we will refund the bond onto their card, because we don't carry cash.

'I only really had one employee and that is Lesley and another contractor. So I put two and two together. If it was the contractor taking the money, Lesley would have picked up on it. But she was keeping it a secret, so I knew it was her.”

Neil brought in his accountant to go over the books and to question Hunt about the missing money. She continued to deny any knowledge and it wasn't until Neil approached her and accused her of taking it, that she admitted her guilt.

'Not only did she steal off the company, which couldn't afford it anyway, she stole off me, my wife and children, as I had been pumping my own money into the company to keep it afloat,” adds Neil.

In court today, Hunt's depression was brought up as a reasoning for her offending.

Judge Wolff said while Hunt suffered from depression, this was not an excuse for her offending.

'Winston Churchill suffered from depression and managed to run a country during World War 2,” said Judge Wolff. 'Depression can be managed.

'Given the extent of offending, I don't believe home detention is appropriate.”

After taking into consideration her guilty plea and other mitigating factors, Judge Wolff sentenced Hunt a 23-month prison term with six months standard release conditions.

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9 comments

Justice??

Posted on 21-01-2015 14:03 | By george36

23 months (or probably less) free full board and lodging with no obligation to repay over $146,000 stolen from her employer? Pretty good deal! The law is truly an ass.


no reparation again

Posted on 21-01-2015 15:58 | By hapukafin

what does the judge mean by its not practicable?I was a victim of no reparation too for some rediculous reason.It would be a different story if was the judges money.


When did UNPRACTICAL

Posted on 21-01-2015 19:07 | By s83cruiser

become a concept in law. What a load of b******s. The woman may as well just go home with no conviction so she can go and rip off a new employer. Doing time is no consequence is a case like this. She should be paying off her crime till the day she dies and only then will the debt be wiped. The judge has given absolutely no thought to the victim of this crime and made it all about the criminal. That sucks!!!!!!!


IN

Posted on 21-01-2015 22:14 | By Capt_Kaveman

this case the courts should seize everything she has


.

Posted on 22-01-2015 10:25 | By maccachic

That's shocking. Hopefully the community can rally and support this business.


No reparation.

Posted on 22-01-2015 11:49 | By Lois

This happened to us, exactly the same thing and in 1972 we were done for $100,000.oo. One hellof a lot of money in 1972, nearly wrecked our lives.


Puffin

Posted on 22-01-2015 12:36 | By Joanne

I don't think this lady will work again. This has been a high profile case and her name is in the public domain now and not easily forgotten.


Crme Pays

Posted on 23-01-2015 07:02 | By Justin Time

Whoever said 'crime doesn't pay' has never dealt with our justice system. Lesley Hunt will be out in 12 months time for good behaviour (ever heard of a violent white collar criminal), that's $146,000 dollars cash in hand for 1 year of punishment, excellent return for your time of crime! Where's the justice for the victim? Sorry mate you have to bleed out more time & money to take out a 'civil action”. She's a criminal, the Court has proved it and sent her down; her assets should be seized; house, cars, furnishings and accounts should all be taken to make restitution. There is one forgotten victim in this that has more power than the Courts, more authority than the Police, who will seek revenge and take their pound of flesh: send in the......TAX MAN.


The Company...

Posted on 24-01-2015 02:28 | By morepork

... should appeal this. If someone has been building hot rods, then reparation cannot be "impractical". Seize her assets and ensure she pays something every week for as long as it takes. The important thing here is the victim and getting some kind of justice. That REQUIRES restitution. If this lady is truly a decent person, just affected by depression, she should make it her life's work to repay what she owes as a matter of fairness and conscience. Maybe she could work part time for the company for say, 5 years, with NO wages (a few hours a week, although they probably never want to see her again...). She needs to be held responsible and the Judge needs to take a reality check.


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