Colleagues ‘manipulated’ by dishonest bank manager
Colleagues were left feeling hurt by being “exploited and betrayed” by the bank manager they considered a friend when he stole $92,000 to feed his gambling addiction.
The manipulation of fellow staff members was seen as an aggravating factor at the sentencing of Samuel Andrew Journee, 26, who will spend 10 months on home detention at the address he co-owns in Spreydon.
Judge Patrick Treston suppressed the name of the bank involved at Journee’s Christchurch District Court sentencing after he had pleaded guilty to a charge of dishonestly accessing a computer system and six charges of theft by a person in a special relationship.
Journee had set up false accounts which he then accessed 657 times over a seven-month period last year to take the money to feed what is now diagnosed as pathological gambling. As his lawyer Tim Twomey told the court, Journee was in the vicious cycle of “chasing his losses”.
After being confronted, he admitted his offending and paid all the money back. He has since been attending problem gambling sessions and has had himself banned from all the casinos and TAB outlets in New Zealand.
His gambling escalated from occasional sports betting to total preoccupation with casino gambling.
Mr Twomey said Journee had a university degree and his fall from grace had meant he would never be able to resume work in his chosen career of banking and finance.
He said Journee had not enjoyed what he did. He had taken the money not to finance his lifestyle but to feed the gambling addiction which had gripped him.
Judge Treston described that as “a hard submission to maintain.” He said: “His lifestyle was gambling.”
Mr Twomey said: “He is devastated about the loss that he has caused to his former employer, and the shame he has brought on himself, and his friends, colleagues, and family.”
The judge said the offending had a profound impact on Journee’s employer and his colleagues who he had “used and manipulated”. They felt hurt that they had been exploited and betrayed by someone they saw as a friend.
Although reparation had been paid in full, the bank had been left to cover for staff time lost in the investigation, and managing the impact of the offending.
Journee, who now works in marketing for a drainlaying firm, was not seen as a risk of reoffending.
The judge began by considering a jail term, but decided that Journee could be granted home detention, with a special condition that he continue his gambling addiction treatment during the term and for a further 12 months if necessary.
He will also not be allowed to enter any premises offering gambling facilities during the home detention without the prior written approval of his probation officer.
Category: Focus
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