A Cromwell orchard shop manager was convicted in the Alexandra District Court yesterday of 12 fraud-related charges, for getting payments for almost $14,000 for her employer's fruit.
Ann Linda McCormick (58) admitted 12 charges of gaining a pecuniary advantage by deception between December 2009 and January 2012 while she was shop manager for Sarita Orchard, in Cromwell.
Judge Stephen O'Driscoll heard McCormick had sent out consignments of fruit from Sarita Orchard to customers and had invoiced them but had substituted the number of her own personal bank account.
Prosecutor Sergeant Ian Collin said a fellow employee, on January 18 this year, noticed in an email from a customer, that bank account details were not those of the Sarita bank account.
McCormick was spoken to by her employer and later admitted having falsely invoiced customers three times.
She said she had done it to get money for a deposit for a rental property, but when police investigated they discovered at least 12 instances of false invoicing, for invoice values of between $499.60 and $2624.40, together totalling $13,958.40.
McCormick had covered up the false invoicing by tearing up carbon copies of invoices or leaving blank copies of invoices.
McCormick was convicted and remanded until May 31 for sentence, pending a pre-sentence and reparation report.
