Teenager paid for cop's pilfering

A teenage credit card fraudster was once ordered to pay $1146 reparation for stolen computer gear, now known to have been pilfered by disgraced former detective Mike Chappell.

The Christchurch District Court ordered the reparation three years ago on the basis of a document written by the then fraud squad investigator Chappell, which contained false information.

On Saturday, a jury found Chappell guilty on 10 of 13 dishonesty charges he faced, including trying to pervert the course of justice using a false summary of facts. He will be sentenced next month.

The Crown Solicitor is looking at what should happen over the reparation order, in light of Chappell's guilty verdicts.

The young man - whose name is suppressed - was among a group of teenagers arrested for credit card fraud in mid-1999. They had stolen credit card numbers to pay for pizzas and computer gear ordered over the phone.

In his case, the youth, then 17, told Chappell in an interview that he had ordered four motherboards (computer nerve centres) and four central processing units (cpus) to be sent to a Christchurch address.

Chappell collected the packages from the address, on his own, but told colleagues he had been beaten to the loot. Two motherboards and two cpus were already missing by the time he arrived. Police, suspicious about why only half the goods were taken, launched a covert operation on Chappell which uncovered his trail of dishonesty.

The jury accepted that Chappell had stolen the "missing" computer gear, written a false summary of facts seeking $1146 reparation over it, and later conspired with five others to get rid of the equipment.

The young man said he pleaded guilty to four fraud-related charges and to unlawfully entering a building - despite strongly disagreeing with Chappell's summary of facts - and was convicted.

He was ordered to pay reparation and did 85 hours community service.

The man took out a student loan and reimbursed his parents who borrowed money to pay for the reparation and lawyers' fees.

"We were used by Mike Chappell," he said. "We were young and stupid. We did something that [he] magnified out of proportion.

"It's not that we negate what we did, but the consequences have been so far-reaching because I had just turned 17 and I had a conviction."

He believes his convictions will severely restrict his ability to get a fulltime job in the future.

Crown Solicitor Brent Stanaway confirmed that the reparation issue was being investigated by his office, and it was likely to make a recommendation to the Solicitor-General. It was then up to the Solicitor-General to decide if further action was needed.

- NZPA