Cosmetics, flights and bets
A woman accused of stealing more than $150,000 from a car yard she worked used the money to purchase cosmetics and beauty treatments as well as pay rates and place TAB bets, Crown prosecutors allege.
Stephanie Elmiger is standing trial in the Rotorua District Court charged with stealing from Taupo¯ ’s Central Motor Group 436 times using bank transfers and unapproved credit card transactions. Her lawyer argues the transactions were legitimate office expenses and with some even okayed in writing by her boss.
Elmiger’s spree came unstuck, the prosecution alleged, only when a check on a car on the yard found it had been sold on the cheap to one of Elmiger’s friends.
Prosecutor Andrew Hill said between November 12, 2013 and June 2016, Elmiger made 23 separate unlawful transactions from the company accounts into her personal BNZ account totalling $78,000. One of these payments, for $3565, was made with the tagline Cosmetic Solutions.
Cosmetic Solutions provides products such as Botox and other non-surgical methods to deliver anti-ageing results. Other transactions entered into Elmiger’s account included $8245 identified as being for storage solutions, $4900 to a cosmetic company, as well as commissions which Central Motor Group owner Richard Blakeney Williams said she was not entitled to.
Another charge, of $6900, was made to the Wings and Wheels Social Club Account with the tagline RX-7. This money was then promptly transferred into Elmiger’s personal bank account. Blakeney-Williams was the first witness called by Crown prosecutor Andrew Hill. He was asked if Elmiger was approved to use the company credit cards for personal purchases over and above her salary, including health products, jewellery, clothing, shoes, groceries, council taxes and rates.
Blakeney-Williams’ reply was a resolute no.
He ‘‘trusted Elmiger’’ and believed she was doing a good job in her role as general manager but became suspicious when Elmiger became elusive about providing credit card statements. The company was in financial trouble which Blakeney-Williams said was due in part to Elmiger’s actions. It was a set of old roof racks, attached to a used vehicle Blakeney-Williams says Elmiger disposed of improperly, that prompted a fuller investigation and uncovered suspicious transactions.
‘‘He [Blakeney-Williams’ employee] did a registration check [of the vehicle] and found it was now registered to Elmiger’s best friend’s partner,’’ Blakeney Williams said. ‘‘He said we’ve got a real problem. This vehicle has been stolen.’’
Blakeney-Williams said he confronted Elmiger’s friend the next day at the office. Elmiger then burst into the room saying she had sold it to her for $300.
‘‘I said ‘What right do you have to sell it for $300 when it was worth $3600?’ That was the start of this case.’’
‘‘He said we’ve got a problem. This vehicle has been stolen.’’ Richard Blakeney-Williams
Blakeney-Williams said he was trying to retire from the company and was not scrutinising the accounts in detail.
Under cross examination Elmiger’s defence lawyer, Jonathan Temm, put it to him that the car was defective and was sold for the scrap value the company would earn. The purchaser had to fix up the car to get it up and running, Temm claimed.
Blakeney-Williams disagreed, saying the vehicle was worth more as evidenced by its eventual sale price.
Temm questioned Blakeney Williams saying some of the transfers were arranged payments made for Elmiger’s work, outside of her general manager role.
This included managing the money of Blakeney-Williams daughter’s beauty therapy business in Taupo¯ . This was a claim Blakeney-Williams denied. Temm unpicked many of the 436 charges at great detail.
Many transactions for coffee, sugar and other sundry items were argued as being legitimate expenses pertaining to the business.
It was also revealed Blakeney Williams did not have full control of who was using the company credit cards, including a purchase for a replacement phone for Blakeney-Williams’ daughter.
Temm argued Blakeney Williams destroyed his daughter’s phone, after discovering she was on Tinder and became angry. He asked Elmiger to replace the phone. The cost of the replacement phone was listed as one of the offending charges against Elmiger.
The cross examination of Blakeney-Williams continues with the trial expected to last two weeks.