The former manager of a Whangarei bar found guilty of pocketing gaming machine money has been convicted and fined.
Michael William Laiman, 53, denied one charge of theft by a person in a special relationship but was found guilty in the Whangarei District Court this week and fined $1000.
Laiman, manager of Legends Sports Bar, said he used $3433 of proceeds from gaming machines in April last year to pay bills instead of banking it into a Lion Foundation trust account.
Shortly after he used the money, Legends Sports Bar was placed in voluntary liquidation.
A venue agreement was entered into between Lion Foundation and Tasktrain Hotels, the venue operator at Legends in December 2011.