Former Mighty River Power engineer jailed for three years
A former Mighty River Power engineer has been jailed for three years and two months for defrauding the power company of more than $2 million.
In March a jury found Paul Kenneth Rose, 44, and his estranged wife Jane Rose guilty on charges of obtaining by deception laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Jane Rose was sentenced to nine months home detention.
The Crown said Paul Rose had put secret companies in Jane Rose’s name so he could sell parts to Mighty River Power while he was employed there.
Between 2005 and 2012 those companies issued 187 invoices totalling $2.2m for goods and services that were sometimes never provided.
On Wednesday Justice Rebecca Edwards said a prison sentence was the only appropriate response to the gravity of Paul Rose’s offending.
Edwards reduced Rose’s starting prison sentence by six months for his community involvement, personal circumstances and remorse.
Edwards said because there was no way to be sure Mighty River Power would not have paid for the goods and services through another company, she was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the power company had suffered a loss beyond $60,000 on payments made for services and parts.
Edwards said victim impact statements from Mighty River Power employees showed the offending had a real impact on his colleagues.
"Your offending is not victimless," Edwards said.
Paul Rose was described as "the go to guy" by fellow employees, Edwards said.
He also involved his mother in the deceit by inviting her to be a director of one of the companies to disguise his deception, she said.
Paul Rose exploited deficiencies in Mighty River Power’s systems and was significantly more culpable than his cooffender, she said.
Crown prosecutor Nick Williams said the offending caused harm to Mighty River Power’s staff morale and the company’s reputation - particularly in light of its pending sharemarket listing.
The offending also caused financial loss and productivity loss in dealing with the investigation, he said.
The financial loss was a conservative estimate because it did not factor in loss of productivity.
The offending was premeditated and repeated over a significant period of time and was a breach of trust, he said.
Paul Rose had numerous previous convictions including a one year suspended sentence for receiving stolen property and arson as well as other driving and drug offences, he said.
Defence lawyer Rachael Reed said it was not known whether Mighty River Power suffered a loss from receiving specialist parts and services from Rose’s companies.
Rose benefited in a range of $200,000 to $600,000, which should be used as a starting point for sentencing, Reed said.
Jane Rose’s lawyer Matthew Goodwin said she had lost her job as a sales representative because of media publicity around the case and the discomfort experienced by her employer.