Woman Pleads Guilty To $750,000 Accounting Fruad
June 21, 2016 | Fraud
A Waikato woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding her employer of more than $750,000.
The 46-year-old appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday.
She is facing two charges - one of making false entries into a document - namely Banklink - used by the company for accounting purposes between April 2010 and October 2015.
The other charge is one of theft in dealing with $750,775.54 of employer and client funds.
That offending happened between August 2009 and October 2015.
Judge Christopher Field granted interim suppression of th…
Three Arrested Over Alleged $428,000 Fraud Ring
May 27, 2016 | Fraud
Three men believed to be the leaders of a North Island fraud ring that allegedly ripped banks off for hundreds of thousands of dollars have been arrested in Lower Hutt.
Police claim the organised fraud group, which ran across the North Island since 2015, created false IDs - including gun licences, passports and drivers' licenses - and used them to withdraw money from banks.
It is believed the alleged offenders made off with $428,000, while another $225,000 was saved due to the quick thinking of bank staff.
The three arrests today a…
Westpac, ANZ In Australia Investigating Suspected Foreign Home Loan Fraud
May 10, 2016 | Fraud
Two of Australia's biggest banks on Monday said they are investigating suspected fraud involving false declarations by a number of home loan borrowers who rely on foreign income.
ANZ Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corp said the alleged fraud was discovered during internal investigations and posed no credit risk.
The announcement follows moves by ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank last month to clamp down on mortgage lending to non-residents, following regulatory concerns about lax lending standards and soaring house prices driven …
Authorities Ignoring Education Fraud
May 6, 2016 | Fraud
A group representing immigration advisers says authorities in New Zealand have failed to take action to stop rampant fraud among dodgy education agents in India.
The Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) believes the issue is being ignored because of the billions of dollars being made from international schools in New Zealand.
The Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai is where Immigration New Zealand has its office, and where staff are dealing with hundreds of cases of education fraud.
In fact, we're told the Mumbai office has h…
Ex-Director Denies $185k Fraud
April 20, 2016 | Fraud
A former finance company director has denied fraudulently obtaining $185,000 from an elderly couple in Northland.
The man, who has name suppression, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of theft by person in a special relationship and a two-day judge-alone trial started in the Whangarei District Court yesterday.
The Crown indicated to Judge Greg Davis it did not wish to proceed with two charges of obtaining by deception which were earlier laid.
In court yesterday, one of the two complainants took the stand and said she and her husba…
Five Signs An ATM Has Been Tampered With
April 19, 2016 | Fraud
The number of thefts at cash machines is on the rise as fraudsters look to steal cash under your nose, experts are warning.
When using a cash machine, it is important to be alert for signs of criminal activity. Here are some telling signs that an ATM has been tampered with, from Fico's fraud specialist Brian Kinch:
When using a cash machine, it is important to be alert for signs of criminal activity - of which there can be many.
1. Criminals are adept at placing card or cash capture devices and PIN compromise devices in or around AT…
Rich Kids Of Instagram Are Landing Their Parents In Jail
April 11, 2016 | Fraud
You don’t need to analyze the Panama Papers to find evidence of rich people hiding assets; in quite a few cases, Instagram provides all the proof Feds need.
That’s right, the portal for many of the world’s richest kids to show off exactly how rich they are can also be used by investigators to find proof that their parents are concealing assets, according to the Telegraph.
In a debt recovery case, for instance, when the man claimed to not own any items of significant value, the Feds found a photo his son had posted of their £12 millio…
Ex-Employee Who Defrauded Company Now Claiming Unpaid Wages
April 5, 2016 | Fraud
An Auckland woman fired after stealing nearly $20,000 from her work has gone to the ERA complaining she wasn't paid her final wages.
Deborah Angela Lynn took her payment dispute with her former employer to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) who threw the claim out and ruled her last paycheck was properly being put toward the company's losses.
Manson Marine & Engineering employed Lynn for nearly a year but she left the company in 2010 after admitting she forged her boss' signature and cashed $14,448 worth of cheques into her ow…
Charges To Be Laid In Alleged Embezzlement Of $2.5 Million
April 5, 2016 | Fraud
A former SkyCity employee is to be charged for allegedly embezzling about $2.5 million from the casino.
It is understood Tessa Fiona Grant, 40, will have 49 fraud-related charges laid against her tomorrow following a police investigation.
Grant worked at SkyCity's Hamilton casino as finance manager between 2006 and 2013 when she was promoted to general manager.
Her contract was terminated in 2014.
The company earlier said it referred the matter to police after spotting a number of "financial irregularities" and an internal review f…
Beware Of Fake Facebook Profiles
March 25, 2016 | Fraud
Police and NetSafe have today issued a warning over fake Facebook profiles, saying that the use of hacked or fake Facebook profiles is on the rise with growing numbers of people being deceived and often losing large sums of money.
In one of the latest incidents, Sir Ralph Norris discovered three fake Facebook profiles using his name, and it’s not the first time that one of New Zealand’s most renowned business leaders has experienced the fraudulent use of his profile. Towards the end of last year it was discovered that a criminal using…