Otago Daily Times

Couple’s scam a ‘gross breach of trust’

- ROB KIDD Court reporter rob.kidd@odt.co.nz

A CHURCHGOIN­G Christian, an awardwinni­ng Scout leader, a wellpaid, trusted member of the University of Otago’s senior leadership team — so why did Gavin Marcus Bainbridge need to steal $220,000?

The 49yearold and his wife Karen Ailsa Bainbridge (47) would not tell police the answer to that question when they were arrested.

They would not tell Probation when they were interviewe­d before yesterday’s Dunedin District Court sentencing.

And they would not tell awaiting media as they left the courthouse for their home, where they will spend the next 10 months on detention.

Judge Michael Turner, who sentenced the couple yesterday, was baffled by the crime, which began the year after Gavin Bainbridge was employed as the university’s head of informatio­n systems.

His wife played a vital role, setting up a fake IT company and posing as a contractor through which they siphoned the funds.

The judge said such fraud was normally committed to sustain a lavish lifestyle or to support an addiction, neither of which appeared to be the case here.

Regardless of the motive, University of Otago chief operating officer Stephen Willis said staff had been rocked by the revelation­s.

One said the aftermath felt like a “tsunami” sweeping through campus, others felt complicit, some believed their hard work had been tainted by any associatio­n with Gavin Bainbridge.

While he was described as having “vision and energy”, those who worked closest with him began to see a pattern of manipulati­ve behaviour emerge.

Gavin Bainbridge would hand employees projects they were underquali­fied to manage, he would praise them and promise to mentor them.

But there was a darker side to his persona, Mr Willis said workers had reported.

“Bainbridge was antagonisi­ng a lot of people by combativel­y ramming his ideas through . . . He was brutal in his quick assessment­s of people, rating some as morons and muppets to their faces or in meetings behind their back,” they said.

“It was obvious which side of Gavin you had to be on and, once again, this felt systematic­ally and intentiona­lly done to groom a team and create a work environmen­t that would enable him to conduct his fraud.”

In October 2018, Karen Bainbridge set up a company called “StudioUs” in her maiden name Morton, to appear as an agency designing online software, court documents said.

Three months later, Gavin Bainbridge establishe­d the firm as a new creditor and supplier to the university.

No conflict of interest was raised.

Over the next six months, invoices were filed with the university’s crediting department.

In total, $227,700 was paid to StudioUs.

No work was ever done. An investigat­ion found the money paid to the StudioUs account was transferre­d to five joint accounts operated by the Bainbridge­s.

In an old CV, viewed by the Otago Daily Times, Gavin Bainbridge writes of his “strong commitment and values reflecting the importance of family”.

His interests included attending church, playing guitar in a band and volunteeri­ng as a Scout leader, for which he won a Special Service Award while living in Australia in 2016.

The court yesterday heard the couple had repaid $80,000 but were now living in rented accommodat­ion and each was on a benefit.

It was revealed they had nearly $150,000 in superannua­tion accounts in Australia but that money could not legally be transferre­d to New Zealand and withdrawn to satisfy the debt.

The judge said it was a moderately sophistica­ted scam which represente­d a “gross breach of trust”.

Alongside home detention, the defendants were each sentenced to 400 hours' community work (the maximum such sentence) and ordered to repay a further $2800.

The full debt may be pursued civilly by the university, Judge Turner said.

 ?? PHOTO: ROB KIDD ?? Double trouble . . . Gavin and Karen Bainbridge left the University of Otago more than $170,000 out of pocket.
PHOTO: ROB KIDD Double trouble . . . Gavin and Karen Bainbridge left the University of Otago more than $170,000 out of pocket.

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