How a man jailed 82 times robbed an 88-year-old of $45,000

An 88-year-old woman suffering Parkinson’s disease was fleeced of $45,000 by a man who has been previously jailed 82 times.

Damien Hakaraia was sentenced by the Whanganui District Court this week to 22 months’ imprisonment on 23 charges of using a document to obtain an advantage.

Judge Dugald Matheson ordered Hakaraia to pay $7500 reparation costs.

Judge Matheson told the court Hakaraia’s partner was an alleged cooffender and employed at the healthcare facility where the victim lived.

“She dealt with the victim and had access to her personal affairs,” the judge said.

On October 4, Hakaraia’s partner failed to report to work and on October 18 she resigned from her role.

“Over a period of time, this defendant and his co-offender used the victim’s stolen eftpos card to complete numerous transactions over numerous locations,” Judge Matheson said.

The victim had $30,000 returned to her by her bank, but in a statement, her niece said that the process had been extremely stressful for both herself and her aunt.

Judge Matheson said Hakaraia’s life revolved around methamphetamine and gambling.

“Mr Hakaraia has appeared nearly every year since [his] first convictions in the district court back in 1998 and he has some 20 pages of adult convictions totalling in all 152,” Judge Matheson said.

“He has been sadly imprisoned 82 times for separate offences.

“He is caught in a vicious cycle and is seeking treatment for depression.”

— Wanganui Chronicle