Bank employee raided elderly woman’s account
A bank employee raided the account of an 89-year-old woman customer because he believed he had to impress his partner to keep her in his life.
Riki Joseph Cashell, 38, responded with what Christchurch District Court Judge Raoul Neave described as “disarming frankness” when confronted with the $24,224 taken from the elderly woman’s account.
“You immediately accepted that you were living above your means,” said the judge. “It seems you were anxious to impress your partner and were worried that if you didn’t give her the good life, you might lose her. Unfortunately, you chose to do so at someone else’s expense.”
The great tragedy was that Cashell had now realised that his partner did not need all that, but he had destroyed his life in many respects in the process.
He had lost his good name through his significant breach of trust which had also damaged the reputation of the BNZ where he worked as a customer service representative.
Cashell had access to people’s personal banking records. He had loaded a debit card with the woman’s account details, and put a PIN number on it without her authority.
He then used the card over nine months to obtain goods, services and other benefits “purely and simply to fund your own lifestyle”, said the judge.
The victim had suffered significant stress and felt she had been victimised because of her age and deteriorating health.
Cashell had obviously lost his career in finance for good. His degree in accounting, finances, and information services “has largely gone for nought”, the judge said. He also had significant qualifications in the Japanese language but it now seemed unlikely he would be able to travel to Japan or work there.
Defence counsel Simon Shamy handed the court a cheque from Cashell for $24,224 to repay reparations in full.
Judge Neave said the repayment was of very great significance.
He imposed six months of home detention.
Category: News
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