'I have committed no crime,' says former executive
A 73-year-old former executive from Hamilton is standing trial over claims he misappropriated more than $111,000 from a finance company he helped establish, according to reports.
The man, whose identity is suppressed, faces three counts each of theft by a person in a special relationship and obtaining by deception, with the alleged offences spanning from 2015 to 2018, The New Zealand Herald reported.
He is accused of exploiting his position in the firm — where he held full signing authority and operational control — to write and deposit "cash" cheques, fund personal purchases, and misuse company funds for his own loan repayments.
Representing himself in court, the defendant denied the charges and claimed that there was a rift between himself and the board of directors that led to misunderstandings.
"My defence is quite simple. I have committed no crime. I'm simply carrying the can for a poorly governed company," he said as quoted by The Herald.
The Crown alleges otherwise, claiming the man used company money to buy personal items such as weed killer, cleaning supplies, a toastie machine, and Hush Puppies shoes.
Tom Sutcliffe, Crown solicitor, said the defendant recorded his cash transactions on sticky notes affixed to his computer, which he later discarded, leaving no proper record of the missing funds.
One of the more serious claims involves the application of broker fees, according to the Herald's report.
The company typically charged a $600 fee when third-party brokers were involved in loan arrangements. However, Sutcliffe said the defendant routinely applied this charge — 99 times in total — even when no broker had been used, generating $55,190 in additional revenue that was not reported to the company's board or reflected in its accounts.
"It was never raised at a board meeting," Sutcliffe told the court. "The practice was illegal because the company was not authorised to charge broker fees. It was also dishonest because people were charged for services not provided."
To mask the flow of funds, the defendant allegedly invented an "orphan account" that lacked any traceable financial records.
The man also took out a legitimate personal loan of about $24,000 from the company. The Crown alleges he treated this as a revolving credit facility — paying himself more than authorised, without any oversight from the board.
"He just paid himself more because he was in charge of the account," Sutcliffe said as quoted by the Herald. "You can't use the company account as your personal account."
Additional allegations include the creation of a fee-sharing arrangement with a broker, whereby clients without a broker would be referred to one and a $600 fee split between the companies.
The broker allegedly signed paperwork for clients he never met, and none of the shared revenue appeared in company records.
The trial is expected to last at least two weeks, with Judge Noel Cocurullo advising jurors the case may extend into a third week.
