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A couple who defrauded the University of Otago out of more than $ 200,000 have avoided jail.
University of Otago Source: istock.com
Gavin Marcus Bainbridge served as a senior director in the university’s IT department from 2017 to approximately 2020.
In October 2018, his wife of 47 years, Karen Ailsa Bainbridge, created a company called Studio-US, designed to resemble an agency that creates online software and bank accounts under her maiden name: Karen Morton.
The couple appeared in Dunedin District Court for sentencing this afternoon.
While working in college, Bainbridge had the ability to authorize purchases of up to $ 50,000 per invoice.
In January of last year, the 49-year-old established Studio-Us as a creditor and supplier to the university without disclosing his conflict of interest in the company.
Starting in March, the couple began defrauding the university out of thousands of dollars.
On March 13, Karen Bainbridge sent her husband an invoice labeled “E-Learning Design and Analysis” for a total of $ 13,800.
He sent it to the university’s accreditation team and it was credited to Studio-Us’s bank account.
That was repeated on March 28.
The couple escalated the fraud on Aug. 16 with three bills each claiming $ 48,300.
By the time the couple’s theft was discovered, they had stolen $ 227,700 over seven months.
They refused to explain their crime when interviewed by the police.
In an impact statement to the victims, the university’s director of operations, Stephen Willis, said that Bainbridge had caused serious harm to university personnel.
“I refer to Bainbridge as a noxious weed that we have removed from our garden. A garden that will one day bloom again with care and time. I hope that this noxious weed does not have the soil and conditions to take root again and damage another place “.
Judge Michael Turner told the couple that he was very well balanced between sentencing them to jail and house arrest.
“This is a very marginal case. In the end, I have determined that a house arrest sentence in conjunction with community service meets the purposes and principles of the sentence here.”
The couple had reimbursed $ 80,000 to the university, but more than $ 170,000 was still outstanding after audit costs were considered.
Both were sentenced to 10 months of home detention with 400 hours of community service, the maximum penalty for each sentence.
They only had to pay an additional $ 2,800 reparation sum due to their limited resources, although Judge Turner warned the couple that the university could initiate civil proceedings and that it was likely.
Outside of court, the couple declined to comment on the sentence and the whereabouts of the rest of the stolen money.
