Charitable trust fraudster Hemo Thompson jailed for two years, 5 months

Hemo Thompson in the dock at the Hamilton District Court today. She was jailed for defrauding a social services trust of nearly $172,000, causing the loss of 43 jobs. Photo / Belinda Feek

She was charged with looking after the finances of a charitable trust. Instead, she went on to steal just over $170,000.

Hemo Kerewai Thompson, 59, initially admitted defrauding the Raukura Waikato Social Services Trust [RWSS] of about $60,000.

However, after the trust went into liquidation, leaving 43 people without a job, and the Serious Fraud Office became involved, she confessed to further thefts.

She pleaded guilty to a further 99 charges when she reappeared in the Hamilton District Court last month, bringing her admissions to a total of 168 charges involving $171,378.60.

All but one of the charges were theft by a person in a special relationship.

The trust was set up in 2003 to help support vulnerable people in the community as well as rehabilitate Maori prisoners and alienated youth.

Thompson was back in court today when she was jailed by Judge Merelina Burnett.

Her offending began seven months after she started in the job, from between November 2010 and January 2015.

She put the expenses down as genuine.

Instead, and on 166 separate occasions, she withdraw cash from central Hamilton ATMs to go gambling or pay household expenses. She even paid some of her mortgage payments.

Counsel for the SFO, Annabel Maxwell-Scott said it was the Ministry of Social Development who noticed the trust's finances deteriorating in 2015.

They called in Deloitte's to do an independent financial review, however throughout that process, Thompson was the key go-to person.

Hemo Thompson wiped back tears throughout her sentencing before Judge Merelina Burnett today. Photo / Belinda Feek

The review found that the trust went from having a $178,000 surplus in 2011 to a deficit of $471,000 three years later.

Thompson's transactions couldn't be explained as staff couldn't provide documentation.

Maxwell-Scott said her offending wasn't complicated and simply involved her omitting to put which account number the funds were being paid into.

The trust shut down just prior to Christmas and was put into liquidation in March 2016 with the fraud eventually being uncovered in 2017.

"She was responsible for their finances and would report to the chief executive ... they were extremely reliant of her knowledge."

Thompson ended up depositing the money into one of her three accounts.

"The amounts did vary, some were relatively small, but sometimes in the thousands. In that way the payments looked relatively innocuous at first glance."

She said Thompson's actions were a causative factor in the trust going into liquidation.

She added that chief executive Gill Palmer had been hit professionally and personally after being publically accused of the thefts and ultimately "ostracised in the community".

Thompson's lawyer Glenn Dixon earlier said it was only his client's omission about a Credit Union account where she had made the deposits that gave rise to the extra 99 charges.

Raukura Waikato Social Services Trust was put into liquidation due to the thefts by former financial manager Hemo Thompson over a four-year period. Photo / Google

Dixon urged the judge not to send her to prison, instead suggesting 12 months' home detention together with 400 hours' community work.

He said his client could pay back the stolen money at $20 per week, a "paltry amount" that she would have to pay "for the rest of her life" but it was all she could afford as she was on a benefit and charged with looking after grandchildren.

"She recognises that her offending has had a significant impact on the trust, the employees, but also the people who relied on the trust, the members of the community who were supporting the trust, the government ministries and ultimately the taxpayer."

He submitted that his client's actions were not the sole reason the trust was liquidated but did not elaborate.

However, the judge said the seriousness, deliberate and repetitive nature of the offending was too serious.

She noted how there were a group of prisoners about to be released who instantly lost their support due to the trust's collapse.

"When it closed the people lost the support they were getting and those people were betrayed.

"Forty three people lost jobs and income. The community lost it's health and social services ... and it closed just prior to Christmas when people are particularly reliant on a regular income to meet expenses."

Judge Burnett noted Palmer's "particular unpleasant experience" which saw her at the centre of Maori Television's Native Affairs programme accused of being the alleged thief.

As a result, Palmer was dismissed from other part-time work.

Considering the offending was premeditated and persistent - it continued despite the flailing finances, Judge Burnett said she felt a prison term was the more appropriate penalty.

She sentenced Thompson to two years and five months' jail.