Fraudster's 'tacky' $700,000 spree

Karen Margaret Hodgson. Photo / Supplied

A fraudster has been brought to justice after ripping off her employer to go on a $700,000 shopping spree - but now her boss is struggling to recover his money because nobody wants to buy the woman's flashy furniture and "tacky" jewellery.

Through elaborate scams including duplicate bank accounts and credit card fraud, jailed office manager Karen Margaret Hodgson led a secret life of luxury. Hodgson stole $689,000 from her former boss Geoff Truscott's Auckland engineering firm to bankroll what she called a shopping addiction.

"There's tens of thousands of transactions from fuel to food to furniture to the latest laptops to the latest phones. All of this stuff we have to account for," Truscott said yesterday.

Among Hodgson's purchases were Chanel handbags, a $10,000 bracelet and a $7000 leather couch. Hodgson, now 42, started stealing from Mason Engineers NZ in October 2008.

Her fraud was uncovered last July. She was sentenced this week to 39 months' jail. Truscott is trying to recoup his losses - but many of Hodgson's purchases had lost value or were too tacky to find buyers, he said. And after scrutinising bank statements, Truscott said more of Hodgson's loot could be stashed away.

"The clothing that we've picked up doesn't match a lot of the purchases. I believe she's kept the good stuff for herself."

Hodgson, whose maiden name was Karen Ginders, enjoyed visiting shopping malls and buying clothes online. Her favourite brands included True Religion jeans, which range in price from $210 to $486 a pair when ordered on the net.

"She had to go out and buy the latest fashion," Truscott said. "She bought a $10,000 bracelet which we sold at auction for about $1500. We put some of the jewellery to Webb's auctions to try and get it auctioned."

A diamond ring and a bracelet sold for about $3500 each at an auction at Webb's a month ago. "Those in theory were supposed to be worth about twenty-odd grand. It was authentic jewellery but ... when it's second-hand it becomes worth nothing."

Though she hid her lifestyle from her boss, arriving at work in the same old clothes most days, Hodgson furnished her home with pricey goods.

"I have one leather couch which she bought for $7000 which no one wants to buy," Truscott said. "It's a red round leather lounge suite. It's hardly saleable and I won't have it in my house."

Truscott said the true cost of Hodgson's fraud exceeded $1m. "The all-up costs are around about $1.3m by the time we take into account what I've had to put back on my house to pay back the IRD and keep the company going."

Though his business was now stable and making modest profits, Truscott said he'd pay the price of Hodgson's betrayal for years to come.

"The effect on me and my family will be in 10 or 15 years when I go to retire ... I'm going to have to sell what I've got and probably have to live off the state. I'm not going to be able to fund the mortgage that'll still be remaining. It still rips me up."

Truscott said though Hodgson admitted guilt, she never apologised. In her defence, Hodgson told police she was funding a shopping addiction.

Her lawyer, Rebekah Webby, told Tauranga District Court it was possible Hodgson had an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Truscott was doubtful.

"It's my personal belief she tried to play a bit of a nutcase card to try and get out of being put into jail," he said.

The company director also questioned how those close to Hodgson didn't notice her flashy purchases. "That sort of stuff you don't go out and buy on 45 grand a year. There was no way you could have ... her buying that sort of stuff without you getting suspicious of it." BOP Times