Judge believes employee was likely 'remorseful that she has been caught'
A former office administrator at Orion Haulage has been sentenced to 12 months' supervision and 200 hours of community work after stealing around $30,000 from the transport company over a period of almost four years.
Ronel Viljoen, who worked at the Morrinsville-based company from April 2018 to April 2023, was responsible for reconciling supplier accounts, the New Zealand Herald reported.
However, from October 2019 to March 2023, she made 142 personal purchases using company funds, totalling $33,055.11. These expenses included vehicle repairs, tools, clothing, and even a lawnmower. The most expensive purchase was a $2,266.96 repair bill for a Volkswagen Golf.
The theft was uncovered when finance manager Daniel Bougher noticed discrepancies in the company's accounts.
"It was a real shock to find that she had been stealing from the company regularly for a number of years and covering up this theft through fraudulent means," Bougher told the New Zealand Herald.
Viljoen attempted to cover her tracks by reusing old invoices to reconcile the accounts. When confronted, she claimed she had been granted permission to use company funds for personal expenses.
The company, however, denied the claim. And according to her counsel, Matthew Wright, Viljoen had later come to "appreciate that she was not entitled to do what she did."
While Viljoen repaid the money through a loan after being caught, her actions were deemed serious by the court.
Judge Tini Clark questioned her defence during her sentencing hearing, noting that Viljoen had not told her family about the theft.
"Perhaps the defendant is not actually remorseful but is remorseful that she has been caught," Clark said as quoted by the Herald.
Despite Viljoen's claims of supporting her family financially, Clark found that the impact of a conviction on the family was not a unique consideration.
During sentencing, Clark said she couldn't give any credit for remorse: "I have had no luck finding any expression of remorse."
But she acknowledged Viljoen's early guilty plea and the repayment of the stolen funds, offering her a 20% reduction in her sentence.
Viljoen's case highlights a growing trend of theft by employees, with Waikato region seeing the highest number of such cases in New Zealand during 2023-24, according to statistics obtained by the Herald.
On the other hand, convictions have been dropping nationally, with the most common sentence being community and home detention.
