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A former Selwyn District Council staff member purchased a new car the same day he stole $ 7,000 from a charity bank account.
Lisa Elaine Larkin, who stole more than $ 26,000 through unauthorized and fraudulent transactions, told a judge Wednesday that if she could go back, she would have “done things differently.”
Larkin, 52, was sentenced to nine months of home detention in Christchurch District Court after previously pleading guilty to two representative charges of robbery by a person in a special relationship and one of use of forged documents.
The crime occurred more than five years after the council hired Larkin as a community development consultant in November 2012.
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Participated in the founding of SeniorNet groups in the area and the merger of two local SeniorNet groups to become Selwyn SeniorNet in October 2013.
SeniorNet is a charity that provides education to seniors on the use of computers and telecommunications.
During this time, Larkin had financial access to the Lincoln and Districts SeniorNet bank account in her capacity as secretary, as well as to the Selwyn SeniorNet bank account in her position as treasurer.
Between September 21, 2012 and September 18, 2013, Larkin transferred $ 6,234 from Lincoln and Districts SeniorNet’s bank account to his own Kiwibank account through 24 unauthorized transfers.
As of October 10, 2013, the account was no longer authorized to be used to manage Selwyn SeniorNet finances.
However, SeniorNet NZ Federation funds and some membership dues were still being paid into this account.
Between October 22, 2013 and December 4, 2017, Larkin continued to transfer money to his personal bank account without authorization, taking away $ 13,807.
On one occasion, Larkin approached the Selwyn SeniorNet committee and warned them that if they broke a $ 7,000 term deposit they had with BNZ, they could put it into a Kiwibank term deposit account with higher interest.
The committee accepted the proposal and Larkin was authorized to withdraw the term deposit from BNZ.
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
Lisa Elaine Larkin during her sentencing in Christchurch District Court.
In August 2014, Larkin withdrew the time deposit and transferred the $ 7,000 to the Lincoln and Districts SeniorNet bank account. A few days later, he transferred the $ 7,000 back, this time to his personal Kiwibank account.
On the same day, Larkin bought a new car for $ 7,210.
On November 26, 2016, he created an invoice, purportedly from SeniorNet, to be paid by the Selwyn District Council. The bill was $ 1,200 and was supposed to fund an equipment upgrade project.
Larkin convinced a colleague to pay the bill urgently and for SeniorNet not to install itself on his system as a creditor. The money was deposited into the Lincoln and Districts SeniorNet bank account.
Once paid, Larkin transferred it through three transactions over five days to his personal bank account.
Through her role on the council, she was also given the responsibility of purchasing supplies to outfit a new community room.
Between December 8, 2017 and February 21, 2018, Larkin used the council’s New World charge account to purchase 20 prepaid gift cards and two New World gift cards, totaling $ 6,800.
But he used them all for personal expenses, except for an $ 825 transaction.
When asked about the gift cards, Larkin said they bought them as a gift to thank the volunteers for helping with the community center.
He then gave the council falsified screenshots of the online profiles of 14 of the cards, removing the remaining balance and manipulating them to suggest a harmless spending.
Larkin also claimed that a large amount of the money had been spent on the purchase of Smiths City appliances, the falsification of a company invoice for $ 3,746, and delivery to the city council.
Later, Smiths City confirmed that the invoice did not originate from them and was found on Larkin’s work computer, showing that it had been modified the same day it was submitted to the council.
Larkin initially denied the charges against him, but after a discussion between the defense and the Crown, he pleaded guilty to the amended charges earlier this year.
On Wednesday, Judge Tom Gilbert said that while he accepted that she had some remorse for what she had done, she did not take full responsibility and underestimated the damage she had caused.
While the amount of money involved was not substantial, it was still a significant amount for an organization like SeniorNet, he said.
The judge ordered Larkin to pay more than $ 18,000 to Selwyn SeniorNet and about $ 3,800 to the Selwyn District Council.
