Jail term for thief 'cursed' by pokies

A 46-year-old woman who stole more than $460,000 from her workplace to fuel her gambling addiction was "cursed" by poker machines, her lawyer says.

Toni Anne Whatarau, of Haumoana, appeared in the Napier District Court yesterday and was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to one charge of theft.

The office administrator transferred $460,862 of the Hastings company's money in 278 transactions to her bank account between April 2007 and October 2009.

The company laid off five staff and cut back hours after it noticed poor cash flow towards the end of last year which it blamed on the recession.

Defence lawyer Eric Forster said Whatarau had "acknowledged the incredible harm she has done".

"She has been an avid gambling addict and the curse for her has been pokie machines."

Mr Forster said she had brought $3000 as reparation to court but her ability to pay back the full amount would be limited.

Crown prosecutor Daniel Kerr said Whatarau had shown a lack of remorse towards her former employer and workmates.

These people had suffered tremendously, he said.

Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Whatarau had wreaked havoc on the lives of people around her, including her family. She had breached the trust of her workmates and employer.

"They believed you were a trusted employee and as a result of that you were given responsibilities and you let them down severely."

There was also a degree of sophistication in her offending, which had gone on for years undetected. In a bid to disguise the transactions, she inserted a creditor's name or labelled it GST or PAYE when transferring money from the company's bank account.

Judge Mackintosh reduced her sentence because of her guilty plea and because she had no previous convictions.

- NZPA