A 47-year-old Blenheim woman who embezzled more than $40,000 from her employer over 11 months was sentenced to home detention when she appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday.
Karen Lesley Vunisa was sentenced to six months' home detention, 250 hours' community work and ordered to pay $15,000 reparation to her former employer, Marlborough TV Services, on a charge of using a computer system for pecuniary advantage and two charges of obtaining ownership of property by deception.
Judge Stephen Harrop said Vunisa was in charge of the day-to-day running of the business and between February 2009 and January 2010 used an internet banking system to divert money from the business into her own account 103 times.
Vunisa also charged two items to the company without authority, he said.
Crown prosecutor Craig Stevenson said despite the 11-month period shown on the charge sheet, the offending happened over two years.
Forty thousand dollars was a significant amount for any small business and there was no prospect of Vunisa repaying a lump sum, he said. It was not realistic to pay the full amount other than to "drip feed" it, he said.
A starting point of 12 or 15 months' imprisonment would be appropriate, he said.
Defence counsel Bryony Millar said a report from Addiction Services showed Vunisa had underlying issues, including a shopping addiction and she had a breakdown after she was charged.
Imprisonment would cause hardship for Vunisa, who was caring for her 18-month-old son and elderly mother. Her husband worked full time in the forestry industry, Mrs Millar said.
If she went to jail, her husband would need to leave his job or the child would have to be sent to her husband's home country, Fiji, to be looked after by family, she said.
Vunisa offered a gold necklace to the victims to go towards reparation, which Judge Harrop said would not be appropriate.
Judge Harrop said Vunisa breached the trust of her employer in a "persistent, deliberate and selfish way" with "devastating" effects on the business.
Vunisa was remorseful, but "remorse after one is caught is different than feeling it halfway through and confessing", he said.
Vunisa's offending had created a ripple effect, he said.
"It will affect a number of people in a number of ways for a long period of time. It's not like an assault – this sort of thing can cause enormous stress and that's an ongoing thing," he said.
Judge Harrop said $15,000 was the only "realistic" amount he could order, but the victims could take civil action to recoup the rest.
The Marlborough Express
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