A light-fingered retirement village worker sparked an elaborate hidden-camera sting, which eventually saw her hauled before the court.
Denise Neal, 51, worked at The Poynton Retirement Village in Takapuna between 2012 and 2014 in a role of "utmost trust", on call for elderly residents during the night.
Over a 15 month period nearly $4000 had gone missing from people who lived in the "spacious, upmarket" apartments.
But there was no evidence as to the identity of the culprit.
At the end of July last year, the retirement village bosses turned to Scope Investigations, which set up several hidden cameras in flats of absent residents.
In one room they even left two $10 bills under a fruit bowl to lure the thief.
Over the course of a week, the footage caught Neal entering three of the apartments - using her master key - and snooping around, opening bags and checking diaries.
She often used a torch or the light from her phone so as not to cause alarm.
The covert cameras even snapped her putting on blue plastic gloves while she scoured the rooms.
And she did not miss the $20 bait, which she was shown scooping up and putting in her pocket.
Residents have to fill in a form to tell staff when they will be away in case they have to be accounted for during emergency evacuations.
But Neal used them to target her victims.
One woman, who had indicated she was going away, made a last-minute decision to stay home because of ill health and was sitting in her lounge when the defendant walked in unannounced late one night.
She reported that Neal became flustered when confronted and the resident later found $175 left to put her dog in a kennel was missing.
On review of the footage the care worker was immediately dismissed and police were involved, to whom the defendant immediately confessed guilt.
"She stated however that that was the only time she took any money and she was not involved in any of the previous amounts of money going missing," court documents said.
Neal subsequently admitted four charges of burglary and was sentenced at North Shore District Court to 10 months home detention.
Judge Pippa Sinclair also ordered her to repay the resident her $175 as well as $600 for emotional harm but she declined reparation for Metlifecare, which owns The Poynton.
The company spent $6800 on the CCTV sting to catch the defendant but the judge ruled against Neal picking up the tab.
Metlifecare chief executive Alan Edwards described the incident as "extremely disappointing".
"The safety and trust of our residents is held in the highest regard and we will always endeavour to take appropriate measures to ensure they feel safe in our villages," he said.
The judge said the offending appeared to have been driven by a gambling habit but Neal had since expressed "remorse and extreme guilt".
There was still a stern message for the Papakura resident.
"By breaking into people's homes and going through and taking people's possessions, you seriously violate people's rights to feel safe and secure in their own home," Judge Sinclair said.
"The most aggravating feature relating to your offending was the breach of trust."
She said the victims felt "betrayed" and it had taken them a long time to rebuild their trust in staff at the retirement village.
Retirement Villages Association president Graham Wilkinson said he had not heard of a situation like it in 20 years but facilities could only do their best when it came to security.
"You can have the most robust policy you like but if someone's determined to do something like that there's not much you can do about it," he said.
Mr Wilkinson said CCTV and swipe cards were becoming much more common in the industry and elderly folk were much safer in homes than living alone in the community.
NZ Aged Care Association chief executive agreed but said "one case like this is one case too many".
Neal was also ordered to attend drug and gambling counselling for six months after the end of her home detention sentence.
- By Rob Kidd of the NZME News Service
