Taranaki farm equipment dealer who stole $360k off 25 customers sent to jail

A farm equipment salesman who ripped off 25 clients to the tune of $360,000 has been sent to jail after the home detention sentence he initially received “simply didn’t work”.

Christopher Carter, 48, was sentenced in August to 12 months of home detention on four charges of theft by a person in a special relationship. Each charge represented several victims over a certain period.

Carter, of Taranaki, was also ordered to pay $290,000 in reparation by way of a $10,000 upfront payment and then $2500 per month after that.

But on Tuesday, he was back in New Plymouth District Court after making an application to have his sentence reviewed.

Following the application, Judge Gregory Hikaka cancelled Carter’s home detention sentence and remanded him in custody pending the hearing.

Carter had struggled to make his reparation payments and made the application with the hope the court would assist in resolving the issues, defence lawyer Julian Hannam said at the hearing.

Farm equipment salesman Christopher Carter, of Carteragri Limited, ripped off 25 clients to the tune of $360,000. Photo / Tara Shaskey

But since the application was made, Corrections told the court Carter had been manipulative, unco-operative, tried to manage the sentence himself, and was aggressive when he did not “get his way”, all of which Carter rejected.

Judge Hikaka said the upshot of it was, that the home detention sentence “simply didn’t work”.

Hannam said Carter now wanted to be returned to home detention and was still committed to paying reparation.

While an agriculture-related job in Taranaki had not worked out, he wanted to move to Whangārei and get a job wherever he could.

There, his partner would help support him and he would pay $1500 in reparation per month, Hannam submitted.

Crown prosecutor Holly Bullock argued for Carter to be jailed.

She said he had not complied with his home detention sentence, reparation was unrealistic, he was unremorseful for his offending and he had deceived the court with some of the information he provided.

After considering the submissions, Judge Hikaka resentenced Carter to two years in prison.

Carter returned to New Plymouth District Court on Tuesday. Photo / Tara Shaskey

When calculating the new sentence, the judge took into account an inheritance Hannam submitted Carter was set to receive.

He presented a letter he claimed to prove Carter was entitled to a share of an estate in the United Kingdom.

His share was valued at between NZ$300,000 and NZ$500,000 and could meet all of the reparation owed, Hannam submitted.

Carter previously submitted he was due money from a relationship property settlement, but that had not occurred.

In addition to the prison sentence, six months of post-release conditions were imposed and included conditions that limit his handling of money.

Of the $290,000 reparation Carter has been ordered to pay, he still owes $267,500.

He turned to his mother and partner who were sitting in the public gallery and burst into tears before being led away to begin his jail term.

The offending that led to Carter’s incarceration spanned more than two years.

Carter owned a second-hand farm machinery business, Carteragri Limited, where he bought and sold machinery through Trade Me and Facebook.

In January 2019 he began swindling people out of money and farm equipment and despite being arrested for this and appearing in court in July 2020, he continued the offending while on bail until March 2021.

Carter’s modus operandi varied but the outcome was the same – he dishonestly acquired property and funds.

He sold farm equipment on behalf of people but would pocket the cash himself.

He purchased items with a deposit and would take the goods and not pay the balance.

He hired equipment and then sold it without the owner’s permission, and he sold items to people and then never delivered them.

Sometimes he sold the same piece of equipment to more than one person and sometimes he sold items that he didn’t have in his possession.

Of the 25 victims, the biggest loss was for a man who gave Carter a cross-slot drill and scoop valued at around $80,000 to sell on his behalf.

After Carter made the sale, he never gave the victim the money.

Another substantial loss was for a man who purchased a Volvo Loader for $56,000 from Carter. The item was never delivered to him.

At Carter’s sentencing in August, Hannam described him as an “extremely talented salesman” who knew farm equipment well but had no head for accounting.

“Regrettably things just got out of control. It’s very much a situation of one failed settlement of a sale then feeding into another; funds not becoming available,” Hannam said.