A Rotorua woman who stole $157,000 from Te Puia has agreed for any proceeds from the sale of her house be used to pay some of the money back.
Waikare Bernadette Te Moana, 55, appeared in court yesterday after previously pleading guilty to two charges of theft. Judge James Weir sentenced her to nine months' home detention.
The court was told that as a ticket seller Te Moana would sell tickets, not put the money in the till and cancel out the sale, keeping the money.
Knowing there were video cameras above each ticket booth, she hid her actions by placing a magazine over what she was doing.
Te Moana's lawyer Fraser Wood said Te Moana had not lived an extravagant lifestyle and the money was not frittered away on gambling. She spent the money on herself and her whanau which included two grandchildren which she had the full-time care of.
Te Moana was remorseful and had offered to pay reparation. She had taken a second mortgage on her house and had agreed her house be sold and any proceeds left over after the mortgage, expected to be about $50,000, would go to Te Puia. She had also agreed to make payments by instalments.
Judge Weir said Te Moana had pleaded guilty to the charges but disputed the amount she stole. It was after some significant negotiations the parties agreed to the sum of $157,000.
"That is not an insignificant amount of money."
Judge Weir said Te Moana had worked at Te Puia for 24 years and it would be expected that an employer would be surprised at such actions from someone who had been employed for so long.
Her offending spanned 2 years between 2008 and 2010 and involved 77 incidents of theft.
Te Moana's offending involved a significant breach of the employment relationship. Staff at Te Puia had felt a sense of betrayal by what Te Moana had done, Judge Weir said.
Judge Weir said the key factors behind Te Moana's offending were a sense of entitlement, greed and poor decision-making.
Judge Weir noted that another person had previously been sentenced for similar offending but the amount stolen in that case was much greater.
Former ticket seller Te Raumahara Elizabeth Pene, 52 was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court in November after admitting a representative charge of stealing $324,000 from Te Puia, between July 2008 and December 2010.
Judge Weir said given Te Moana's guilty plea, her remorse and her offer to pay reparation he could impose home detention.