A former personal banker convicted of defrauding the Westpac Bank and several customers of $1.4 million, has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail.
Susan Bourton was sentenced today in the Hamilton District Court by Judge Philip Connell who said Bourton's offending was planned and premeditated to support a lavish lifestyle she otherwise could not afford.
Bourton earlier pleaded guilty to 25 of 81 charges, but following a drawn out trial was found guilty in April by Judge Connell of the remaining 56 charges.
The 36-year-old's offending, which the Crown said dates back 10 years, included several years when she was a manager at Westpac Bank in Hamilton and included defrauding one client of up to $750,000.
The man and his partner almost lost their home through the complex fraud.
