The impact of the offending by Glen Grieve, 59, who can now be named, was heard in the Invercargill District Court yesterday.
The former small business owners, who are husband and wife, had their mental, physical and financial health collapse in the wake of the deception, the court heard.
Grieve worked for a firm in Gore and one of his jobs was paying accounts for the victims’ business, the police summary said.
Between 2018-21, he transferred money from the victims’ business account to his personal account, disguising
the payments to echo legitimate invoices the business had received.
Over three years, Grieve siphoned a total of $180,092.70 from the victims’ accounts, amounting to 12 charges of obtaining by deception.
The court heard the defendant had a severe gambling addiction, and had used the funds to cover significant personal debt.
Judge Russell Walker commended Grieve for coming up with $12,500 to repay the victims, and his early guilty plea.
But he said there was a significant breach of trust, citing the accountancy firm, his previous employer, as another victim.
"You were in a trusted profession, and you abused the faith of your employer and its clients," he said.
"... without honesty, without integrity."
It was clear Grieve’s actions had impacted his previous employer’s health and reputation too, the judge said.
"While operating in a small town where news travels quickly," he said.
The name of all Grieve’s previous employers at the time of the offending were permanently suppressed by the judge.
In their victim impact statement, the husband and wife said the deception "destroyed the stability" of their family and their business.
"They talk about the trust they placed in you," Judge Walker said. "... they feel angry, betrayed ... and broken."
The couple said they lost a business they worked hard to build over 25 years.
Grieve’s sentence was reduced for his previously clean record and the fact that he was in the early stages of recovery from his gambling addiction.
He was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention and ordered to pay his victims $12,500.
