Woman's 'bizarre' mass apple theft

The woman admitted stealing $170000 worth of apples from her Hawke's Bay employer. Photo / Thinkstock

A woman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing more than $170,000 worth of apples from the Hawke's Bay company that had employed her for 15 years.

Mother-of-two Teokotai Mokotupu, who worked for Moffett Orchards near Fernhill was sentenced yesterday in the Napier District Court.

The 32-year-old pleaded guilty in December to a charge of theft by failing to account.

Her scam involved her selling apples to customers without the company's knowledge and pocketing the proceeds.

The offending began in January 2010 and was discovered last May after a bona fide client of the company received the wrong fruit.

The Moffett family were stunned when the extent of the scam emerged, because it involved the loss of the apples plus tens of thousands of dollars worth of packaging and bins.

Mokotupu had been employed by the firm since she was 17, joining her mother who worked there.

Defence counsel Nigel Hewat yesterday labelled it a "bizarre'' series of offences. A trusted staffer, elevated to the role of logistics manager, who had no criminal history, had succumbed to the needs of family members, and become fearful of repercussions from the scam's beneficiaries, he said.

Judge Tony Adeane noted, however, she'd since been "deserted'' by her family.

Mr Hewat said Mokotupu was "adamant'' she wanted to pay the money back, but the Judge said that at $50 a week that would take at least 70 years.

He said neither Mr Hewat nor Crown prosecutor Fiona Cleary had been able to point to any non-custodial sentences for similar cases in the past, and jail had to be the result, taking into account that the debt could not repaid.

"Accountability in the eyes of the community and the victims is important,'' he said.