Office Manager Gillian Budge Jailed for $200,000 Fraud
May 27, 2015 | Fraud
A Canterbury business owner is warning others to protect themselves from fraud after his office manager was jailed for stealing nearly $200,000 from the company over five years.
Gillian Budge was sentenced by Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday to two years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to a representative charge of theft by a person in a special relationship.
Budge admitted stealing $196,742.22 from Christchurch-based Southern Engineering Solutions while working as the company's office manager.
The money was taken by transferring funds to two BNZ credit cards in more than 60 separate transactions between December 2008 and 2013.
Company owner Warren Rice said he discovered the offending when Budge - who had worked for the company for more than 10 years - went on leave in August 2013 and his wife, Chantel, filled in for her.
Chantel Rice noticed the company owed $100,000 in unpaid GST to Inland Revenue, and uncovered the extent of Budge's deception after reviewing the company's bank statements.
Warren Rice said he spent about 500 hours unravelling what happened and collecting evidence for police to be able to lay charges.
Knowing he had been betrayed by someone he trusted for so long made it difficult for him and his wife to trust others, he said.
The couple isolated themselves from their friends, were forced to delay their wedding, and had to put their two-year-old daughter into childcare full-time so Chantel Rice could take over the office manager role.
Warren Rice urged other business owners to be more vigilant so they did not end up in the same situation - including carrying out police checks on any prospective employees.
"I think that more people have to speak out. A lot of people are embarrassed that it's happened to them, but I don't think you should be."
Detective Sue Kingston, who handled the police investigation into Budge's offending, said it was a "significant theft over a long period of time".
"It did have a great impact on the complainant and the company."
It was important for all business owners to be vigilant when it came to their accounts, she said.
"I think it does happen a lot more than people realise."
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- Article originally on stuff.co.nz.
