Shepherd convicted on all charges
A Kaitaia woman accused of stealing more than $100,000 from a national disability support charity has been convicted on six representative charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and one of obtaining by deception.
Toddy Shepherd, now employed as the deputy CEO of Kaitaia’s He Korowai Trust, who denied all charges, was tried by Judge Deidre Orchard in the Kaitaia District Court late last year.
The charges related to offending between 2012 and 2015, while she worked for CCS Disability Action as Honongo Rawhiti regional manager in Hawke’s Bay. The total sum involved, $111,577.67, including cash withdrawals (using a CCS credit card), interest and fees on those withdrawals amounted to $50,730.93.
Judge Orchard released her decision last week, after several delays. Shepherd will appear in the Kaitaia District Court on August 26 for sentencing.
The prosecution alleged that soon after she was appointed to the position of regional manager in Hawke’s Bay Shepherd applied to the ANZ Bank for a credit card in the organisation’s name, stating that she had the authority of national CEO David Matthews. Judge Orchard found the defendant knew she did not have that authority, and she had obtained the card by deception.
Shepherd had retained possession and control of the card from July 2012 until she surrendered it to her employer in October 2015. A forensic analysis by the Serious Fraud Office found she had used it for her own purposes and benefit 626 times, thereby committing theft.
Judge Orchard did not accept the defence claim that Mr Matthews’ evidence that he had not given Shepherd authority to obtain the credit card was not “objectively credible”.
Nor did she accept the defence “attack” on Mr Matthews’ credibility regarding the other charges in that they were based on false allegations that he had made to deflect the national board’s attention from a potential liability of more than $1 million to the district health board in Gisborne.
The court had heard that Shepherd’s job required her to travel between branches, and she had been entitled to claim expenses for accommodation and food, and any other legitimate travelrelated expenses when she was on business, but policy demanded that she provide receipts for all such expenses, as did all staff.
Mr Matthews had explained that senior managers, including regional managers, were sometimes authorised to operate credit cards, which was approved on a case by case basis, with the approval of the local executive committee. There was an expectation that he would be informed if a credit card was authorised.
He told the court that neither he nor the committee had given authority to Shepherd prior to her applying for the card.
The organisation’s credit card policy specifically stated that cards were only to be used for CCS-related expenditure, and that private items were not to be bought with them. On no account were cards to be used for cash withdrawals.
He could see acceptable reasons for Shepherd to have a card, but believed that it would be held by the office rather than an individual.
In late October 2015 CCS offered Shepherd mediation to discuss the issues, and special paid leave in the meantime, which she accepted. That evolved into a formal disciplinary investigation after she offered tor resign and further financial information came to Mr Matthews’ attention, “presumably from the auditor”.
Shepherd tendered her resignation, on health grounds, effective from November 19, and asked that $1968.33 be deducted from her final payment.
Meanwhile, the investigation found that four cash withdrawals totalling $878.70 had been made in Australia over February 1-3, 2014, using the card, while Shepherd and her partner were holidaying there, totalling $878.70.
On October 14, 2014, a Toyota Prado was rented from Bay of Islands airport and returned 13 days later, having been driven 2558km. A deleted (but recovered) email from the rental car company, which was produced in evidence, stated that the near-new vehicle had been “full of sand” and damaged.
The credit card was used to pay the total invoice of $5322.10, of which $3033.70 was for repairs.
Three cash withdrawals totalling $1340 were made in Kaitaia between October 17-19, 2014, and in September 2014 and again in September 2015 the card was used to pay a total of $346.40 for flowers, balloons and chocolate from Interflora, which were delivered to the defendant’s daughter for her birthday.
The card had been used a number of times in Kawakawa, Kaikohe and Doubtless Bay.
Judge Orchard found the defence had “largely failed” to confront the specific transactions, “the detail”, relied upon by the prosecution. The submission that at least some of the cash withdrawals could be explained as koha was not supported by the evidence.
Judge Orchard also noted that on the night of October 22-23, 2015, some records disappeared from the CCS office in Napier, including some of the financial documents required by the auditors. Their disappearance had never been explained.