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NZ Herald
21-04-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Waikato woman stole $7k from employer Early Education Waikato
'The only reason it's $7400 is because police could not get retailers, and places that Lisa had purchased from, to follow through and verify that had happened,' Frame told the judge. 'But from our end, it is very definite that those [258] were transactions made by her. In fact, two of those transactions were made after she was no longer working for us.' McKenzie had been the administrator at EEW's two centres in the suburbs of Fairfield and Claudelands and after the thefts were discovered, blame was initially cast on locals in the area. 'Both of the centres are in low socio-economic areas, so it did actually impact quite widely where there were questions around how budgets were being spent.' Judge Tan acknowledged Frame's comments that more money had gone but she could only sentence McKenzie based on the $7000 figure. 'I know that the reality from your perspective might be different to what I'm dealing with today.' McKenzie was arrested and charged with one charge of theft by a person in a special relationship. She first appeared in court in November last year and pleaded guilty the following month. The 43-year-old was back in court last week for sentencing by Judge Tan. 'Accounting discrepencies' McKenzie worked at Early Education Waikato between 2005 and 2023, moving into an administrator role in 2018. That role meant she was authorised to use the company credit card to make business-related purchases. However, in January 2021, she began using the credit card for her own purchases and intentionally omitted recording them, along with the receipts, into the finance logbook. She left her job there in October 2023. It was only when a newly hired administrator took over that she spied 'accounting discrepancies' and the company carried out an audit. In total, they found the card was used 258 times in that 33-month period, totalling $31,444.52. However, police were only able to prove McKenzie was responsible for 54 of the purchases, which amounted to $7378.40. When questioned by police, the mother-of-three didn't offer an explanation or deny her offending but said she could pay it back. 'She can pay the money back now' McKenzie's counsel, Russell Boot, said she had managed to borrow money from family to pay the stolen money back straight away. Boot said that was a 'significant feature' and meant the EEW would not be drip-fed their owed monies. As McKenzie had attended a restorative justice conference, pleaded guilty early, didn't have any other criminal convictions, Boot pushed for a sentence of community work. 'The reality is, the conviction is also a significant penalty for a person. 'There was some discussion for a Section 106 [discharge without conviction] but that's not being pursued,' Boot said. McKenzie was employed at the moment and it was hoped her offending wouldn't impact that, he said. 'But that's a matter for her employer.' Boot also added his client was only being sentenced on the $7000 amount and, if that was to increase, they would have to head to a disputed facts hearing. 'Cynical, calculated and persistent' Police prosecutor Brendan Mills labelled McKenzie's offending as a gross breach of trust. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. 'It was deeply cynical and calculated and persistent. 'There was also a large ripple effect on staff and students. McKenzie's offending undermines the funding integrity of those ECE centres and, as I understand it, the charitable trust which ... it puts the Government tax-payer funding at risk. 'There's high public interest in the education sector, in particular, being protected from fraudsters.' 'It's not just an entity that's been affected' Judge Tan told McKenzie the impact of her offending 'makes for sad reading'. 'In terms of things that were going on for you, but also the impact of your offending and behaviour on the centre which expands widely in terms of the wider early childhood education community. 'So it's not simply an entity that has been impacted, but it is the children and their families and your then co-workers and those left to clean matters up.' There was also an air of suspicion around the community in general at the time with people asking 'where has the money gone'. While it wasn't clear why she had offended, but Judge Tan said there were 'things going on' for her wider family at the time 'that impacted on your poor decision making'. Judge Tan accepted community work would be appropriate and sentenced her to 120 hours' and ordered she pay the reparation in full immediately. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.
CBC
22-02-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Why did some people not receive an alert after the B.C. earthquake?
Social Sharing Many British Columbians received an alert on their phone after a 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck B.C.'s Sunshine Coast on Friday afternoon. The alert notified people that an earthquake had been detected and urged them to "drop, cover and hold on." Natural Resources Canada said the quake occurred at 1:26 p.m. PT at a depth of about 1 kilometre, and there were no immediate reports of damage. The federal department told CBC News an alert was sent at 1:27 p.m. PT. While many received an alert shortly after the quake, others reported not receiving anything. "It does seem to be the case that some people did not receive alerts while people they were with did," said a statement from Natural Resources Canada, which is responsible for the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system. "This will need to be investigated." The statement said the EEW system only alerts areas where strong and potentially harmful shaking is anticipated. "For people further from the epicentre, feeling lighter shaking, an EEW should not be expected," it said. The statement also said that people may receive an alert before, during or after shaking arrives at their location depending on their distance from the earthquake and the method by which they receive the alert. For an alert to be issued, the quake has to be of a magnitude greater than 5.0 with a Modified Mercalli (MM) Intensity of IV or higher. WATCH | CBC seismologist explains crustal earthquakes: What we know about the 4.7-magnitude earthquake in B.C. 3 hours ago Duration 2:10 CBC meteorologist and seismologist Johanna Wagstaffe breaks down what we know about the 4.7-magnitude earthquake that rattled southwest B.C. and what we can learn from it. Earthquakes Canada initially recorded the magnitude as high as 5.4, but revised the measurement to a 4.7 around 5 p.m. PT — which means it is classified as a minor event. It said an MM IV quake"can be felt indoors by many, outdoors by few" and can lead to the rattling of dishes, and the swinging of hanging objects. Natural Resources Canada said warnings are sent automatically via the National Public Alerting System to cell towers, TVs, and radios within the area where strong shaking is expected. There is no need nor is there a way to sign up for alerts and even visitors to the area should receive an alert. WATCH | CBC's Johanna Wagstaffe says the earthquake is one of the bigger ones B.C. has seen: How rare is an earthquake of this magnitude in B.C.? Our meteorologist explains 5 hours ago Duration 0:55 CBC's Johanna Wagstaffe says the earthquake that hit on Friday is one of the bigger ones B.C.'s coast has seen, but not the "big one" that's expected. Last August, provincial and federal government officials announced that the earthquake early detection system had been activated in B.C. "We cannot stress this enough, during an earthquake, every second counts," Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said at the time. Tony Yang, a professor with the University of British Columbia's Dept. of Civil Engineering, said the system can allow critical infrastructure to take immediate action, such as halting traffic from driving onto bridges or into tunnels. He said the technology around earthquake alerts is improving, but "we are not real time yet."
