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Christel Yardley / Stuff
Tessa Grant during sentencing in Hamilton District Court in 2017.
A woman who stole more than $ 2.75 million from two Hamilton employers has been denied parole due in part to a lack of information about her crime.
Tessa Grant, 44, received about $ 1.99 million from SkyCity Entertainment Group and $ 795,000 from the Waikato Diocesan School for Girls.
The money he took was spent on items including jewelry, property, and “horse-related expenses.”
Once discovered, she pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced in late 2017 to seven years and eight months in prison. In 2018 that was reduced to six years.
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Grant appeared before the parole board on September 1 for his first hearing.
It was noted that SkyCity had recovered about $ 1.4 million of the nearly $ 2 million taken by Grant, while the school was reimbursed for the nearly $ 800,000 owed to them.
Grant took money from SkyCity through methods that included paying personal expenses with company checks, petty cash, and falsifying invoices.
Approximately $ 425,000 of the money went to a horse arena on his property and another $ 477,000 to “horse-related expenses.”
The crime began in late 2008 and was yet to be discovered when he left the company in July 2014.
Mark Taylor / Stuff
About $ 425,000 of the money went to a horse stadium on Tessa Grant’s property, and another $ 477,000 in “horse-related expenses.”
She then moved to the diocese of Waikato, where her crime included tampering with bills “and making the proper payments for herself” and spending on her school credit card.
The money went to items including Hamilton’s property worth approximately $ 900,000 and $ 55,900 worth of jewelry, and she resigned before a job investigation could be completed.
In a written decision from the parole board, Grant’s representative said he had to dig deeper to understand the causes of his crime.
When asked about the motive for his offense at SkyCity, Grant said he had no values, no self-management, no control over his own actions, that he was easy to influence, and that he would not think about decisions.
Grant also said that she justified the offense in her mind because she was a hard worker and that SkyCity was making a lot of money. Also, she never said no to overtime and did what was asked of her.
His rep summed it up more succinctly in closing: greed.
During the sentencing, the judge took note of Grant’s statements to the psychologist that he defrauded the Diocesan School due to the emotional and financial pressure imposed on him by members of his family.
The parole board found that Grant may have wanted to please others, but there was no suggestion that others could easily influence her.
“We also don’t really accept her explanation that she had no control over herself.”
Members were also concerned that, if released, Grant would intend to live with someone who was nearby when the crime occurred.
They didn’t know if she would be able to hold Grant accountable or even be aware of any other crime. As Ms. Grant herself said, her earlier explanations about having money were always plausible and people listened to what they wanted to hear. “
In prison, Grant is working at Inside Out Cafe.
The board said that while it was clear that Grant had given a lot of thought to herself, it was less clear that she had made the necessary changes to prevent further crime.
“Although he presented elaborate explanations for his offense, he did not convince us that he really accepted what was really behind him.”
Grant will reappear before the parole board in February 2021.
