Trade Me cheat pleads guilty
A solo mother-of-two gained nearly $600 by ripping people off on Trade Me.
Melissa Rose Milne, a 21-year-old Kaiapoi woman, pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining money by deception when she appeared in the Christchurch District Court.
Defence counsel Margaret Smyth told Judge Jane McMeeken that had Milne had now paid the money back to the two victims and had written genuine letters of apology which will be passed on through the police.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Neil Williamson told the court that Milne had offered a vacuum cleaner and an iPhone for sale on the Trade Me on-line auction site in November.
The auctions were won by people in Tauranga and Southland, who paid a total of $590 into her account but received no goods in return.
The victims and Trade Me then had difficulty trying to reach her to sort things out. When she was contacted, she paid the money back to both victims.
Judge McMeeken said the charges were serious. “This is of concern because it happens a lot. You tried to rip people off on Trade Me on on two occasions.”
She acknowledged the repayments and the written apologies.
“You can go to jail for committing this sort of offences,” the judge told Milne. “You need to be thinking of your children all the time, and not just when you are standing in the dock.”
Noting that Milne was a domestic purposes beneficiary, she imposed a $200 fine.
“That might seem like a nominal fine, but to a person in your financial position, it is some penalty.”
Category: News
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