A woman who stole tens of thousands of dollars from elderly bank customers said she took the money because her partner had a gambling problem and she needed to pay for food and bills.
She stole $27,400 in total.
The woman, who was granted interim name suppression in the Whanganui District Court yesterday, worked at a Wanganui bank branch from May 2007. Her duties included processing withdrawals and deposits.
The bank's policy is that staff cannot process transactions on their personal accounts or accounts they have access to.
The woman took $24,400 from one couple's bank accounts between March 2012-August 2014 and deposited the money into accounts she had access to, including her partner's. The couple she took the money from are both retired.
She also took $500 from the man's personal account.
The woman took the further $2500 from six different customers, at least four of whom were elderly and retired. Most of the offending happened in 2013.
She also processed a withdrawal slip from one customer for $60, but changed the wording to make it "one hundred sixty dollars" and stole the extra hundred dollars.
The bank has reimbursed all the victims and the woman has so far paid back $9466.88. To date, she still owes $18,092.12. She was paying the money back at $50 a fortnight.
The police summary of facts said that in explanation for her offending the woman said she "completed all those transactions as her partner at the time had a gambling issue and she needed money to pay for food and bills".
She pleaded guilty in court yesterday to seven counts of theft by a person in a special relationship and one count of forging a cheque.
She had not previously appeared before the court.
The woman is defended by lawyer Richard Leith.
The charges hold a maximum penalty of seven and 10 years in prison. Judge David Cameron referred her to Restorative Justice and remanded her to January 15 for sentencing. He ordered a pre-sentence report.