Kerryarna Pene sentenced for theft of $88k from Rotorua Citizens Club

Kerryarna Pene appears in the Rotorua District Court after admitting stealing from the Rotorua Citizens Club. Photo / Kelly Makiha

• Kerryarna Shinska Pene stole nearly $90,000 from the Rotorua Citizens Club over two years.
• Judge Anna Skellern sentenced Pene to 10 months’ home detention and ordered her to pay reparation for theft by a person in a special relationship.
• Pene wrongly tried to implicate club manager Tanya Anderson for the thefts.

Kerryarna Shinska Pene was the accounts manager at the Rotorua Citizens Club when she stole nearly $90,000 over two years.

The 42-year-old’s 89 thefts from a cash recycler machine were described as “complex, calculated and premeditated”.

But as she stood in the dock listening to her victims – those who run the club – speak of their shock, Pene maintained she was put up to it by the club’s manager, Tanya Anderson.

Judge Anna Skellern was clear in her sentencing in the Rotorua District Court on Thursday that Anderson was investigated after Pene’s allegations and cleared of any wrongdoing. She said she sentenced Pene on the basis she was the only offender.

Pene was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention after pleading guilty to theft by a person in a special relationship.

Anderson addressed Pene in court, saying she was still dealing with the grief of losing her fiance, Richie Martin, in a road incident when she learned Pene had pointed the finger at her.

Martin was hit and killed by a reckless driver as he and Anderson left the club on foot in the early hours of September 17, 2022.

Tanya Anderson embraces a photo of her fiance Richie Martin, who was killed after being hit by a car while crossing the road. Photo / Andrew Warner

Anderson said she had known Pene for many years when she hired her in December 2021.

She said Pene had everything you wanted in an employee, being reliable, punctual, well-presented and doing whatever needed to be done.

During the auditing process, it was discovered Pene had manipulated the cash recycler machine by taking money out and entering false records. The machine stores, counts and sorts cash deposits.

Anderson said the “next blow” was learning Pene had implicated her.

“You claimed I made you steal the money and that I received it all. What?”

Richie Martin died after being hit by a car in central Rotorua. Photo / Supplied

Anderson said Pene claimed Anderson had fallen behind in her mortgage since Martin’s death six months earlier so Pene took the money because she did not want Anderson to lose her home.

Anderson said she was stood down from her position at the club and questioned at a time she said she was already “deep in grief”.

“I felt like I had been hit by a bus, Kerry, and was in total disbelief that you would not only manipulate records to steal but then turn the blame.”

Anderson said Pene was “a vulture preying on the vulnerable” for her “own selfish personal gain”.

Anderson turned to Pene standing in the dock and said, “I hope it was worth it”. Pene replied, “You tell me”.

Anderson said Pene claimed the thefts started after Martin died but the club’s investigations showed it started six months earlier.

“Your accusations were flawed,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she did not want to be back in court reading a victim impact statement, after a similar experience with the driver responsible for Martin’s death. Pene said: “No, you should be in here [the dock]”. Judge Skellern reprimanded her for responding.

Kerryarna Pene appears in the Rotorua District Court after admitting stealing nearly $90,000 cash from the Rotorua Citizens Club. Photo / Kelly Makiha

Club president Alan Macfarlane said the club started to realise something was “amiss” but the club’s staff, accountant and auditors could not find where the fault lay.

“I believe that Kerryarna’s multiple thefts were complex, calculated and premeditated.”

He said he could not believe someone dear to him had created such devastation, particularly to Anderson. His staff were “traumatised” and there were ongoing morale issues.

“I’m bewildered that you knew we were all dealing with this [Martin’s death] and yet you chose to implicate Tanya of all people at that time. I can’t believe how cruel that particular betrayal was.”

How she conned the system

In June 2021, the club got a cash recycler, which was connected to its financial systems.

Pene was responsible for the daily reconciliation of all money received by the club.

She would log into the recycler and dispense a till float amount, take the cash then log back in and enter a deposit for zero dollars, which voided the system.

She did that 89 times, stealing amounts of between $500 and $1500 between July 10, 2021 and April 27, 2023, totalling $88,352.

Judge Skellern said Pene had let herself, her team and her whānau down.

She said Pene only recently told her family members about the court case. They immediately rallied to get $10,000 for the club in reparation.

Pene had a new job and also offered to pay $50 a week to make amends.

From a starting point of three years’ imprisonment, Judge Skellern gave discounts for Pene’s guilty plea, previous good character and remorse.

That left a prison sentence of about 21 months, which Judge Skellern commuted to 10 months’ home detention, so Pene could remain in society and keep paying reparation.

She ordered Pene to pay $13,000 on top of the $10,000 already received from her family.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.