Co-director of Nelson family business escapes conviction for diverting $40k to pay herself

Elyse Sivyer flees the courtroom as media was being granted permission to take a photo, after she was discharged without conviction on a fraud charge. Her lawyer Marty Logan is in the foreground. Photo / Tracy Neal

Elyse Sivyer worked hard in her former partner’s family business but wasn’t paid, so decided to help herself.

The bookkeeper and accounts manager claims it was a relief when she was finally caught after diverting $40,000 that had been taken as deposits for weddings at a high-end hilltop venue overlooking Nelson and Tasman Bay, into her personal bank account.

Today she escaped conviction for what Judge Tony Zohrab described as nothing less than financial fraud, but one with an unusual back-story.

He said the decision to discharge her without conviction was “finely balanced”, but particularly unique facts had contributed to Sivyer’s actions, and ultimately his decision.

Judge Zohrab noted her previous conviction on drugs charges was serious but unrelated to recent events.

Sivyer, who has just turned 38, strode up to the dock in courtroom 1.02 of the Nelson District Court today like an athlete might approach the Olympic podium. More than an hour later, her departure was even faster as Judge Zohrab lifted the interim order for name suppression and granted the media’s application to take photos in court.

Sivyer had been granted name suppression in February when she admitted altering a document with intent to defraud.

She was remanded again at a second appearance in April when her lawyer Marty Logan indicated he’d be seeking a discharge without conviction.

Elyse Sivyer was discharged without conviction in the Nelson District Court today. Photo / Tracy Neal

Today he offered more background around what had happened, which told a story of the breakdown of Sivyer’s relationship with her former partner’s family, with whom it seemed she’d once been close.

She and her former sister-in-law had been equal share directors of the private function venue, The Summer House.

Sivyer was in charge of finances and invoices and her co-director and former sister-in-law was in charge of logistics.

Between June 2020 and March 2022, Sivyer amended the bank account on the invoices she sent customers and then replaced the business bank account with her personal bank account and invoices.

Over this time, 14 transactions totalling $39,015 had been fraudulently paid into her personal account.

Logan said in essence, the events which led to Sivyer’s actions were a family dispute and the fact she was not being paid for her work in the family’s businesses.

He said the nature of the business arrangement, in which Sivyer was a co-director, meant she had in fact defrauded herself.

Logan argued Sivyer would have been entitled to the money she took, which she had since paid back, had she approached things differently.

He also claimed that Sivyer was struggling through not receiving child support for the two children she shared with her former partner and had still not received relationship property funds due to her.

“She found herself in this situation, paying herself wages by diverting funds.”

Judge Zohrab said the money owed by her former partner did not justify her stealing from his sister’s business, but it was complicated by the fact it was Sivyer’s business as well.

Logan said the money was not used to fund a lavish lifestyle, but to support herself and her children and to invest back in the business. He suggested there was “an element of vindictiveness” in pursuing the charge that was laid against her.

It was also claimed Sivyer had done a lot to help tidy up affairs for the family, who Judge Zohrab described as “not seeming to be big on paperwork”.

He said issues with Inland Revenue came to light after a family elder died and, despite being separated by then from her partner, Sivyer carried on getting records into shape for the various businesses the family ran.

She helped with the farm accounts, preparing documents for a planned subdivision, and with the wedding venue business.

Everything built up to what the court heard was Sivyer, by then under considerable financial pressure, having “borrowed” the money from the business.

However, she did not raise this with either the accountant or her business partner.

A flag was raised when the accountant mentioned Sivyer might be paid a wage when she planned to drop all work except for one aspect of the business that was in development.

“Your concern was that if you took the wage it would lead to the discovery you had been diverting the funds,” Judge Zohrab said.

Sivyer continued to pressure her former partner into paying money owed from the separation, and then a letter arrived from the family’s lawyer in August 2022.

Sivyer admitted having diverted the funds and agreed to cooperate with the family, including that she would pay back the $40,000 plus reimburse legal expenses.

“You said there was never any chance you’d get away with it, but that’s not an excuse,” Judge Zohrab said.

He determined that the consequences of a conviction were out of proportion to the gravity of the offending and granted the application for a discharge without conviction.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.