Judge found employee's actions 'destroyed' employer's business
An office worker who crippled her employer's business after stealing more than $522,000 has been sentenced to over three years in prison, according to reports.
Elizabeth Audrey Donohue was sentenced at the Pukekohe District Court on Tuesday, where Judge John McDonald handed her a prison sentence of three years and five months for money laundering and theft.
McDonald found that Donohue was motivated by "greed," and that her actions "to all intents and purposes destroyed" her employer's business, The New Zealand Herald reported.
"Pure and simple, so you could live a lifestyle you considered was your right," McDonald said, as quoted by the news outlet.
According to the judge, an aggravating factor considered in the decision was how Donohue sat around a table with her employer and colleagues to find ways to make the company profitable.
"You knew exactly why it was failing, because you were stealing all the money," McDonald said, as quoted by Stuff.
Donohue was an office administrator at Customkit Buildings, where she stole a total of $522,769 between April 2023 and June 2024.
Stuff reported that Donohue committed the theft by producing 58 fake invoices from suppliers for Customkit to pay into her own bank account.
As a result of her actions, the company was forced to shut down last November, resulting in job losses for seven employees.
She told the police that she spent the money on jewellery, health and beauty procedures, gifts, repaying debt, as well as on holidays.
Michael Anselmi, owner of the business, described Donohue as a "calculated, deceitful thief."
According to the business owner, Donohue destroyed the company financially and left them with no option but to wind up. He added that she was there when they were thinking of ways to cut costs.
"And yet the whole time you were systematically stealing from us," Anselmi said, as quoted by the Herald. "All the time being confident that you wouldn't be caught because we trusted you."
Judith Anselmi, Michael's wife, also said they had hoped to sell the business to fund their retirement.
