A former personal banker convicted of defrauding the Westpac Bank and several customers of $1.4 million, has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail.
Susan Bourton was sentenced today in the Hamilton District Court by Judge Philip Connell who said Bourton's offending was planned and premeditated to support alavish lifestyle she otherwise could not afford.
Bourton earlier pleaded guilty to 25 of 81 charges, but following a drawn out trial was found guilty in April by Judge Connell of the remaining 56 charges.
The 36-year-old's offending, which the Crown said dates back 10 years, included several years when she was a manager at Westpac Bank in Hamilton and included defrauding one client of up to $750,000.
The man and his partner almost lost their home through the complex fraud.
