Whangārei woman allows bank account to be used in Facebook ticket scam

A third Whangārei woman has been sentenced for her part in Facebook ticket scam. Photo / File

A Whangārei woman who allowed her bank account to be used by two others running a scam through social media to get money for fictitious concert tickets has been sentenced to six months home detention.

Kyleeann Saunders, 35, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of engaging in money laundering transactions and appeared before Judge Keith de Ridder for sentencing in the Whangārei District Court.

Saunders' role was to provided her bank account to be used by people ticked into buying nonexistent concert tickets offered online through Facebook.

Judge de Ridder said the scam was well thought out and really designed to rip off innocent people. He said the content of the victim impact statements was hardly surprising with people expressing their distress at not being able to attend concerts and also the financial and emotional stress.

"People are felling extremely angry at being so blatantly tricked this way," he said.

Saunders played a lesser role and was not part of the planning. And while she was aware of what was going on, was not able to stand up to the pressure of the two co-offenders, one of which was her cousin who she was living with at the time.

"In my view this was calculated and serious offending," Judge de Ridder said.

Due to information contained in a probation report presented to the court, Judge de Ridder said he would take that into consideration and sentenced Saunders to six months home detention and ordered her to pay reparation.

Lawyer Shaun Russell said Saunders was not the lead offender and was "influenced" by the other two involved in the scam.

Lulu Amberlee Pou headed the scam.

Her 24 victims from across the country handed over nearly $6500 to the Whangārei woman who committed some of the crimes while waiting to be sentenced on the same sort of charges.

Pou was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to 24 charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

Pou was the second woman to appear in Whangārei District Court in the same week for the online scam, with Tacita Joyce, 20, being sentenced to 10 months home detention for obtaining $7028 from 20 victims.