Former travel agent ordered to repay nearly $15,000 in unauthorised expenses

A former marine travel agent at Blue Marine Travel has been ordered repay nearly $15,000 in unauthorised expenses, following an investigation by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).

Lee Harris, who had previously worked for the UK-based marine and corporate travel firm, was found to have misused company funds for personal expenditures, including home cleaning services and fuel for his and his wife's vehicles.

According to the ERA ruling, Harris, who was also employed as director of operations, had utilised a company fuel card for non-business-related expenses.

The unauthorised spending amounted to $12,894 on fuel and groceries, as well as $2,075 for house cleaning services that he charged to the organisation.

Harris initially misled the company by claiming that the fuel charges were for "electricity charges for the office," but later admitted to his deception when he was found.

Regarding the cleaning services, Harris had altered invoices from the cleaning firm that serviced both the Blue Marine office and his home.

The invoices, which initially itemised cleaning services for Harris' home, were modified to remove references to the personal charges before being submitted to Blue Marine for payment.

Settlement agreement breaches

Blue Marine Travel began investigating Harris after noticing financial irregularities, before entering a settlement agreement in August 2023.

Part of the agreement was for Harris to resign from his employment, and for him to return all company property, including electronic devices.

Blue Marine alleged that Harris breached the agreement after not complying with its provisions.

As heard by the ERA, Harris returned the computers, but they were wiped clean and reset to factory settings, raising further concerns.

"Information removed from the computers undoubtedly included information Blue Marine was entitled to," the ERA said.

ERA's decision

Harris defended his unauthorised spending by claiming that he believed he was entitled to certain perks as a company director after speaking to other company directors with expense accounts.

Ultimately, the ERA ultimately ruled against the travel agent, ordering him to repay the $2,075 for house cleaning charges and the $12,894 in fuel card expenses. He was also fined $1,500 for the settlement breaches.

"Mr. Harris did breach the agreement because he did not return items in a timely manner and did not return the mobile phone at all," the ERA said in its decision.

"When he did return his computers to Blue Marine Travel Limited, they had been wiped and reset to factory settings which caused considerable inconvenience and distress to Blue Marine Travel Limited."

It further ordered to pay Harris $4,500 in legal costs to Blue Marine Travel.