Police claim holiday paid for with stolen money
Police opposed allowing a man to go on holiday after he admitted thefts from his employer, saying they believed the Australian break was paid for with stolen money.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Iain Patton also told the Christchurch District Court that they believed Lindsay Ian Cresswell was a flight risk and opposed allowing him to have his passport back.
After argument in court, the overseas trip was ruled out by the judge.
Cresswell was due to leave for his holiday on Saturday, the day after he admitted a representative charge of committing theft by failing to account properly for $139,266 over a 14-month period ending in October.
The police summary of facts was not read in court nor given to the media because the court was told aspects were disputed and the case will go to a case review hearing on May 25 to set a date for a disputed facts hearing before a judge.
At the time of his arrest, police said that Cresswell, a 26-year-old concrete worker employed by a construction company, had stolen the money by issuing company invoices with a personal bank account number for payments to be made to. They allege he obtained the money from 16 customers.
Defence counsel Naoimh McSparron said Cresswell admitted the charge but disputed the number of times of the offending occurred and said the losses were less than half of what was alleged.
She said Cresswell had paid $50,000 into her office’s trust account to cover the eventual reparation payment. She said he had a wife, children, and was operating a company. He had no previous criminal convictions and there were no grounds to see him as a flight risk. He had come to court, and he had co-operated with the police and paid a large amount of reparations into a trust account.
Sergeant Patton said the amount paid was much less than the losses claimed, but if he was to significantly increase the amount the police might review their position.
He said the offending took place last year when the holiday was booked and paid for and the police were concerned that it was being paid for with stolen money. Money spent on the holiday would reduce the amount available for repayment.
He said the police could not agree to a bail variation that would allow Cresswell to go overseas on holiday while the victim was “out of pocket to the tune of $140,000”. He described the idea as “offensive”.
Judge Callaghan ruled against the variation allowing Cresswell to go on holiday. Although the holiday was pre-paid, there would clearly be further expenses.
He said: “It is inappropriate that he be allowed to leave the jurisdiction when this matter is still outstanding and the question of reparation is still up in the air.”
He remanded Cresswell on bail for the case review hearing and ordered that his passport be held in the court’s custody.
Category: Focus
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