Rest home carer tried to swindle $10k from resident, spent $2k on victims’ debit cards

Hamilton solo mum Phillipa Ngamokopuna failed in her bid for a discharge without conviction on five charges relating to thefts from elderly residents at the retirement village she worked at. Photo / 123RF

Phillipa Ngamokopuna preyed on the elderly rest home residents she was employed to care for.

She gained the trust of three 89-year-olds to access their debit cards and steal from them, all the while making them believe she was a dutiful caregiver.

Now the pensioners say they no longer feel they can trust anyone at the rest home.

Ngamokopuna had built up so much trust with one of the victims that he bought a gift to thank her for helping him with his online shopping.

The 34-year-old also stole a bank card from another victim after the elderly woman was admitted to Waikato Hospital, racking up nearly $500 in spending.

She had worked at the rest home from June 2021 but resigned once her offending came to light earlier this year.

The solo mother was in the Hamilton District Court yesterday where she applied for a discharge without conviction on five dishonesty charges.

The first victim was fleeced after she went to Waikato Hospital on July 29 last year, leaving behind $200 cash and her bank card.

Ngamokopuna went into her room, took the card - which was equipped with paywave - and used it at various stores, including Slingshot and Countdown, totalling $463.

Neither of the next two victims knew how to use their computers properly or do online banking, so Ngamokopuna would help them.

While helping one victim on January 31, she set up a $10,000 transfer into her own account.

She asked the man to confirm payment, tricking him into thinking it was in relation to his own spending.

However, the transfer was thwarted when the man received a text alert from his bank, asking him to confirm the transaction. He was able to get it cancelled.

She helped the final victim with his online shopping between December 13 last year and January 9, this year.

Ngamokopuna, of Hamilton, made “multiple” purchases for herself, from the Warehouse, Heathcote Appliances and Countdown, racking up $1137. In total, she stole $2100.

Judge Kim Saunders labelled the victim impact statements “compelling”.

The niece of the female victim said her aunt felt like her personal space had been violated and no longer knew who she could trust.

On behalf of the family, she said Ngamokopuna had stolen from a “defenceless and vulnerable older person and breached the trust so clearly placed in you”, while the son of the second victim said he was disturbed she was able to carry out her thefts from a place where so many elderly people resided.

“You had a position of power and authority and his father couldn’t now trust anyone in the rest home because of you,” Judge Saunders told her.

As for the last victim, his son wondered if the defendant knew how highly his father used to think of her.

“He repeatedly told me of the lovely lady who helped him with his daily shopping. He even bought her a small gift,” the son’s statement read.

Counsel Joshua de Vries said his client admitted her offending was driven by greed and alcohol use, which “took her focus from where her work should have been”.

“Ms Ngamokopuna has instructed me that the charges represent a particularly shameful period of her life, not one that she wishes to repeat.”

She had since undertaken counselling for her alcohol use and was prepared to pay reparation but due to her low income as a cleaner, and child care costs, could only afford to pay each victim $10 a week.

He submitted the convictions would affect her standing in the community and affect her future employment.

Police opposed her application for discharge without conviction.

Judge Saunders wanted to first take note of her heritage.

“You point out that you are a Cook Islander, but you do not live on the islands.

“I can, having lived there and worked there for five years take judicial notice how dishonesty is perceived and it does not affect your standing in the community to a notable extent.”

The judge accepted she was remorseful for her actions, and entered an early guilty plea, but she struggled to believe that the offending was impulsive.

“I’m afraid I don’t believe it was impulsive because of the different nature of the charges and number of transactions that you made.”

Judge Saunders told her she “abused their trust” and although the monetary value may seem low it was a lot to her victims.

“The breach of trust was high. You were trusted not only by your employer but by each of the elderly victims that you were to care for.

“They were particularly vulnerable because of their age and deteriorating health.”

“In my view, it is in the public interest that future employers know you have in the past acted dishonestly so that any future employer can make up his or her own mind about whether they should give you an opportunity.

“In my view, it would be wrong to conceal a dishonest past.”

In dismissing the application, and on the two charges of obtaining by deception, two charges of unlawfully accessing a computer and one of using a document for pecuniary advantage, Ngamokopuna was convicted and sentenced to nine months of supervision and ordered to pay all of the stolen money back.

Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years, joining the Open Justice team in 2022.