Bakery Supervisor Sentenced For Theft
March 30, 2015 | Business Crime
Stuff reports
A young British woman has been sentenced to 160 hours' community work after stealing from famous Queenstown outlet Fergburger's sister store.
Neetal Dandgey, 25, of Fernhill, appeared before Judge Christina Cook in Queenstown District Court today for stealing $2,900. She was sentenced to community work and ordered to pay reparation of $1,085.
The remaining balance was deducted from holiday pay and wages.
She stole cash from Fergbaker between October 21 and March 2, when she was caught during a company investigation. As a shift supervisor she was given access to a safe.
The famous Fergburger, next-door bakery and the newly-opened Mrs Ferg ice cream store are in Shotover St in the centre of the resort town.
Judge Cook said she was not prepared to treat Dandgey any differently from a New Zealander.
A victim impact report from Fergbaker said there was a concern about the effect on the business and the effect of the internal investigation on other staff. The employer believed it was luck and quality systems that caught someone who had been "calculating."
"Small amounts began to be taken by you, which increased over a period of time. Your employer began to notice large amounts of cash discrepancies and it was investigated.
"You were in a position of trust. You abused that trust. You abused that trust repeatedly. I really do not accept a submission that you have fully cooperated with police. Clearly there was a dispute [about the sum] and only a partial acceptance of your offending. It's not appropriate to discount the sentence because you have made arrangements to leave the country. That's your choice."
Sergeant Ian Collin said the company investigated its staff and installed cameras, after discrepancies in end-of-shift balances. Effectively, she was caught red-handed, the offending was repetitive and involved a position of trust, he said.
When she was first interviewed, she accepted stealing $30 cash but the eventual agreed sum was $2,900. That initial acceptance could be seen as trying to minimise offending, he said. The court was told her boyfriend was paying the balance of the reparation.
"She had available to her other people in her life that she could have turned to and get that money," the sergeant said.
Lawyer Liam Collins said the offending started when Dandgey found out her mother in England was unwell and had been taken into care.
His client volunteered for 30 hours at Queenstown Cat Rescue and wanted to shortcut the restorative justice process to return home, he said.
"She was not living the high life, it was going into a savings account to fund travel home. Offending started out as small amounts and effectively spiralled. She was not trying to shine a light on everybody else, nothing to do with her co-workers. She was not attempting at all to deflect blame. She acknowledged she had stolen from the business."
In October she was promoted to shift supervisor, responsible for depositing cash and till receipts in a safe. Cash discrepancies of $60 to $100 a week were noticed and in January these discrepancies increased after Dandgey was given an access code for a safe.
- Stuff
Each year theft of company assets costs businesses millions of dollars and often goes undetected until it’s too late. Sometimes it’s just a gut feeling that something is amiss but without proof it gets left unchecked.
We have helped hundreds of companies deal with workplace crime from embezzlement to office burglaries. Our team has the experience to know what to look for and how to get to the bottom of a business crime issue.
Whether you have suspicions of intellectual property theft by a departing staff member or notice discrepancies in your stock take, we help you uncover the facts. Our investigations deliver the proof you need to make informed decisions on what action to take.
Employment case law allows an employer to make a decision based on a full and fair investigation, and on the balance of the probabilities. This is where The Investigators Investigations comes in.
It is advisable to carry out all steps of the fair investigative process before you report a suspected staff member to police. Otherwise, if police decide not to prosecute, any later decision to ask a staff member to leave could be problematic.
For a confidential discussion call Daniel Toresen on 0800747633 or email him here.
Article source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/67531426/fergbaker-supervisor-sentenced-for-theft
