Nelson dental clinic staffer blames medical condition as reason she took $4000 in customer payments

A dental clinic worker who diverted more than $4000 in customer payments to her own pocket told police she had a medical condition that “made her steal”.

Roxanne Joy Lamong Arsi’s bookkeeping job at DentalCare Nelson required her to send invoices to customers on a generic template via a work mobile phone.

But over the course of a few days in May this year, the 28-year-old managed to direct $4140 in payments to her personal bank account, the Nelson District Court was told this week.

On May 12, she invoiced a customer for $220 but gave her personal bank account number, to which the money was paid.

Over the following days, she repeated the process with other customers, this time to the tune of $1000 and then $2200, according to the summary of facts.

Arsi went on to invoice another customer $30, again sending her own bank details, and then instructed the dental centre to refund a $500 voucher on behalf of another customer into her personal account.

The voucher’s record card was later found to have been tampered with by Arsi.

Her final act of thievery was on May 23, when she directed another invoice for $190 to her account.

When she was arrested, Arsi told the police she had a “medical condition” that made her steal, the summary of facts stated. It did not reveal any further details of her claim.

Much of the money has since been reversed by banks, leaving $1440 outstanding, for which reparation is sought.

In court, Arsi pleaded guilty to six charges of altering a document with intent to defraud.

She was convicted and remanded for sentencing in January next year.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.