KEY POINTS:
As part of a "cheque kiting" scam against a bank, 164 cheques totalling $8.3 million were written out over a seven month period.
Fifty-two-year-old Dimitrios Constantinos Pantelos today pleaded guilty to a charge of dishonestly using cheques, though he says he did not write them.
He was due for a Christchurch District Court trial this week, but agreed to plead to the amended charge, and Judge Graeme Noble remanded him on bail for sentence on June 27, Christchurch Court News website reported.
The judge called for a pre-sentence report, victim impact report, reparation report, and reports on Pantelos' suitability for community-based sentences.
But he warned the man, a first offender, that he could still go to prison. Granting bail and calling for the reports "gives no indication of the ultimate outcome".
Defence counsel, Pip Hall, said even though Pantelos was an undischarged bankrupt, he hoped to repay some of the $38,000 loss.
Crown prosecutor Pip Currie's summary of facts described the "cheque kiting" process. It involves depositing worthless cheques into accounts and then withdrawing the money before the funds are cleared.
As cheques are dishonoured, further valueless cheques are deposited so that the account still looks like it has money in it.
Pantelos opened a company bank account in May 2003 and it was closed three years later.
During 2006, 57 cheques from the closed account were written out and deposited into the Pantelos Family Trust Account. These cheques were worth $4.2 million.
Another account which was closed in 2005 was used to write out 107 cheques worth $4.1 million in 2006, and again the money was deposited into the trust account.
Funds totalling $147,014 were withdrawn, leaving a debt in the account.
The debit card used to withdraw this money had been issued to Pantelos.
When the police spoke to him, he declined to explain.
He has since sold his property and left a debt of $38,396 with the bank. The crown is seeking a reparation order for that amount.
After the remand, Mr Pantelos said that although he had pleaded guilty to the charge he had not written the cheques and it was not his signature on them. He acknowledged that when he had found out about the situation he had done nothing about it.
"I do acknowledge the fact that I was aware that this was going on. I was made aware by the bank," he said.
"It has come back to bite me. I should have acted earlier."
The bank had held a mortgage over real estate and had eventually acted to realise that mortgage to recover the funds. At that point the total loss, including legal costs and penalty interest, came to $38,000.
"I never wrote the cheques," said Mr Pantelos. "They were issued without my authority."
- NZPA
