A Canterbury community group, which had about $18,500 stolen from it by a council manager, may get its money back sooner than expected.
Lisa Elaine Larkin was convicted in November 2020 of stealing from Selwyn SeniorNet, a group she had been entrusted with helping in her role as a community development advisor.
SeniorNet is a charitable organisation that provides education for elderly people on using computers and telecommunications.
Larkin was also convicted of stealing about $7000 from the Selwyn District Council.
She agreed to pay back about $3500 to the council and was ordered by the court to repay $23,859.05. Payments started in May, 2021.
She pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine months' home detention.
Court records released to Selwyn Times late last year show, as of November 11, Larkin still owed $21,143.95, but her weekly repayments increased to $82 from November.
At that rate she will repay the full amount owed by October 2030.
Selwyn SeniorNet chairman Terry Pierson was pleased Larkin’s payments had restarted and had been increased.
“It kind of crippled us for a while, and we are building back slowly, and it just goes to show you have to be careful who you trust,” he said.
Repayment records released to Selwyn Times by the district court show Larkin’s payments have varied since they began in May 2021.
The payments started at $20, going as high as $89.50 for the first half of 2022. In June 2022, payments returned to $20 before dropping to $15 in March 2024.
The $15 amount remained until payments were stopped on April 15, 2025, due to Larkin having “additional debts”, the court collection registry officer said.
At that repayment rate SeniorNet would not have got its money back till 2052.
Due to a court administrative error, Larkin’s repayments did not resume until November 11 at the increased rate of $82.
Larkin would not comment to Selwyn Times.
