Andre Tibor Kalmancsi in Napier District Court on Monday. Photo / Warren Buckland
Andre Tibor Kalmancsi in Napier District Court on Monday. Photo / Warren Buckland
A Napier man who-ripped off the freight company that gave him a job when others might not have has been sentenced to more than four years' jail.
Appearing before Judge Geoff Rea in Napier District Court yesterday, Andre Tibor Kalmancsi was sentenced to three years' jail for burglary and thetheft and arson of a truck, which caused a loss of over $150,000. He was sentenced to a further 16 months for methamphetamine dealing which was uncovered in a search of his phone records.
There was further insult to victim and employer Audrey Young, with Kalmancsi continuing to work without her knowing that he'd been involved, and the ultimate revelation that he had a considerably greater criminal history than the single domestic-related matter he'd claimed when applying for the job.
But there was still more, after the sentencing, when she was told the court had taken into account defence claims of the man's remorse and role in a restorative justice process.
Kalmancsi had done nothing to help recover the five jet skis that were stolen in the raid at Combined Logistics in Ahuriri on the night of January 15-16, and Young said there had been no restorative justice.
"I told them: No, why would I waste my time," she told Hawke's Bay Today. "The only reason he wanted to apologise was because he had been caught."
It has been a long road back for Young and her husband after the raid in which $103,000 worth of jet skis, $13,000 worth of computer equipment, and $18,000 was taken from their depot, along with a truck that was torched two days later.
She said the company lost two "major, major" companies in the aftermath, and both she and her husband had taken on more work because they struggled to trust anyone else.
Defence counsel Matthew Phelps told Judge Rea the "very nature" of the offending indicated his client was at the time of the raid back in the throes of addiction again and "doing whatever he could to get that next fix."
The Judge said the company had taken a risk employing Kalmancsi.
A summary said Kalmancsi and associates entered the company premises during the night of January 15-16, took keys from an office and used a site forklift to transfer the jet skis and other goods from one vehicle on to the truck before driving off. The truck was torched two nights later.
A Combined Logistics employee (in no way related to the theft) outside the warehouse after the January theft. Some of the stolen jetskis are inset. Photo / File
When police caught-up with Kalmancsi they obtained a production warrant for his cellphone, which then yielded information establishing he had been dealing in methamphetamine, at least 50 "transactions" involving 17 people, and 15.6 grams with a street value of more than $6000.
While the jet skis were not recovered, a woman has recently been sentenced to nine months' supervision for receiving stolen property, and another man remains to be sentenced.
