SkyCity fraudster’s sentence reduced
A woman who stole more than $2.75 million from two Hamilton employers – and used some to build a horse arena – has had her sentence reduced.
Tessa Fiona Grant took about $1.99m from SkyCity Entertainment Group and $795,000 from Waikato Diocesan School for Girls.
The money she took was spent on items including jewellery, a property, and ‘‘equestrian-related expenses’’. Once discovered, she pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced in late 2017 to seven years and eight months in prison. But Grant appealed that sentence, and has had her prison time reduced to six years.
A big driver for that reduction was details of a confidential settlement with SkyCity, which showed the casino was repaid about $1.4m of the $1.99m defrauded.
Judge Connell, who sentenced Grant in the district court, didn’t have those details and didn’t realise she had made ‘‘substantial reparation’’, a Court of Appeal judgment from Justice Jillian Mallon says.
Grant took money from SkyCity by methods including paying personal expenses with company cheques, taking petty cash, and falsifying invoices, it says.
About $425,000 of the money went into a horse arena at her property, and another $477,000 on ‘‘equestrianrelated expenses’’. The offending began in late 2008 and still hadn’t been discovered when she left the company in July 2014.
She then moved to Waikato Diocesan, where her offending included altering invoices ‘‘and making resulting payments to herself’’, and spending on her school credit card.
The money went on items including a Hamilton property worth about $900,000 and $55,900 of jewellery, and she resigned before an employment investigation could be finished.
She was charged for her actions at the school in December 2015, paid full reparation – including interest and costs – and pleaded guilty in January 2016.
‘‘We consider the full repayment to the school and the substantial recovery made by SkyCity should have been taken into account when the judge determined the starting point,’’ Mallon’s judgment said.
‘‘It appears that SkyCity recovered not less than $1.4 million,’’ it said.
‘‘It is not clear why neither side provided details of the SkyCity settlement to the District Court Judge,’’ Mallon’s judgment said.
Grant’s lawyer had trouble getting them for the appeal, it said, and Mallon didn’t agree with the Crown’s position that it was irrelevant. Both the school and SkyCity had taken legal steps to make sure they got their money back – including freezing assets.
Grant’s father returned funds on her behalf, using assets which she had funded through fraud, the judgment said. The $1.4m repayment to SkyCity came from the sale of a property and of a horse float – and other items, such as jewellery, were also recovered.
The school was repaid after Grant’s father sold three properties which she owned, the judgment said.
Sentencing judge Connell hadn’t given Grant discount for paying Waikato Diocesan back, the judgment said, ‘‘because he saw this as rewarding Ms Grant for her theft from SkyCity’’. However, Mallon said the source of the funds was irrelevant, and what was important for sentencing was that ‘‘the school’s financial losses were transitory only.’’
Connell was right to state Grant didn’t show sincere remorse, Mallon’s judgment said, but rather ‘‘sought to minimise and justify her offending’’. However, she found Grant deserved a bigger discount for her guilty pleas.
Mallon reduced Grant’s end sentence from seven years and eight months to six years’ imprisonment.
Grant must still serve at least half of that time in prison.