Taxi driver lost $27,000 after customer swiped cellphone, court hears

The case was heard in the Hutt Valley District Court. Photo / Google Streetview

A Lower Hutt taxi driver whose phone was stolen by a customer then lost more than $27,000 after the thieves accessed his bank account, a court has heard.

Anson Seiuli, 39, booked a taxi about 4am on March 4 last year, to pick up himself and another person, the summary of facts said.

While in the vehicle, one of the men swiped the taxi driver’s cellphone from the centre console. The phone was valued at $700.

But the victim was set to lose more than his phone.

“Later the same day and the next day, somebody accessed the victim’s bank app on his cellphone and transferred $27,300 from the app into various bank accounts,” the summary of facts said.

“The defendant received $9000 of this money into his bank account. Many of the other individuals who received money are known associates of the defendant.”

Seiuli appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court this afternoon, having pleaded guilty to theft, receiving stolen property, and breaching home detention.

Defence lawyer Geoff Fulton told Judge Nicola Wills none of the other people who received stolen money were charged.

He said camera footage from the taxi did not show Seiuli taking the phone, so he was charged with being party to theft. The other man in the car was identifiable by the footage but has not been charged.

Fulton described the incident as “opportunistic” offending, with no sophistication.

“At all stages, he’s acknowledged that drug addictions . . . are at the heart of his offending.”

Seiuli entered guilty pleas as soon as the charges were amended to show he was a receiver of the stolen property, rather than the person who took it.

Judge Wills said Seiuli was likely to be in custody “for the foreseeable future” on unrelated matters.

A pre-sentence report referred to drug addiction being a driver behind much of Seiuli’s offending, she said.

He has been in custody since February and on bail for the past year. Judge Mills sentenced him to six months in prison.

She did not make a reparation order due to Seiuli’s inability to pay anything while in prison.

“I don’t want my sentence to reflect that that’s okay and I’d like the victim’s family to know the reparation order’s not been made purely because of these particular circumstances.”

The victim has died since the offending, from unrelated causes.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.