SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Woman convicted on 20 charges of stealing $38,000 from disabled people

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A volunteer who stole more than $38,000 abused the trust of vulnerable clients who thought of her like a sister, a judge said.

The budget advisory service worker, who has name suppression on medical grounds until sentencing, pleaded guilty to 20 charges in Masterton District Court on Tuesday.

One of her victims, Ron Warby, 84, said it was “despicable” that she betrayed the trust of the service’s clients, many of whom are disabled.

“It’s abuse – it’s terrible. I’ve done a lot of volunteering work, money-raising things, I’ve sold raffle tickets for arthritis. And I never, ever thought of putting that money in my pocket.”………

The judge convicted the woman on all the charges and remanded her on continued bail until October for sentencing, when her interim name suppression would lapse.

He said her lawyer, Jock Blathwayt, would need to provide compelling medical evidence for the suppression to continue beyond that.

For full story by Caleb Harris published 11/09/15, go to:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/71018302/woman-convicted-on-20-charges-of-stealing-38000-from-disabled-people

Hamish McIntosh – Ross Asset Management investor – ordered to repay $454K

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Hamish McIntosh: Is a Wellington lawyer who was an investor in one of New Zealand’s biggest Ponzi schemes . who has been ordered to pay back the fictitious profits he withdrew.

McIntosh, who lost his appeal for name suppression was an investor in Ross Asset Management (RAM) and was being pursued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “clawback” claim by liquidators.

McIntosh withdrew $954,000 from RAM’s Ponzi-style scheme before it collapsed.

In March the court heard the investor borrowed $500,000 from Westpac to invest with RAM in April 2007 and was paid out $954,000 in November 2011.

In a judgment issued on Tuesday Justice Alan MacKenzie ordered McIntosh to pay to the liquidators $454,047.62. However, he did not have to pay the liquidator his $500,000 investment.

Liquidator John Fisk said he believed the judge had made a fair and balanced assessment . [Read more…]

Revealed: Millionaire drug addict Mark Lyon convicted of sex charges

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Millionaire drug addict Mark Lyon can be revealed as the 59-year-old businessman convicted of a range of drug and sex offences last year, including offences against girls as young as 14.

Name suppression lapsed at 5pm today, exposing Lyon as using methamphetamine to exploit sex acts from girls – and carrying out a prolonged punishment assault against a woman shackled in a “dungeon”.

The woman’s agony through the sexual assault was such she begged Lyon to rape her so it would be over.

Lyon was sentenced to 15 years in jail in December in the High Court at Auckland with a minimum of eight years to be served before a parole hearing. He stood trial with a woman aged 20 who was also found guilty on charges of getting Lyon young girls for his sexual gratification.

The prison sentence brings to an end the millionaire property developer’s public fall from grace. He went from being one of the city’s most insightful businessmen to someone immersed in drug culture and preyed on by gang members.

The charges came after a police raid on a 29-apartment building owned by Lyon in Eden Terrace which he used to house associates and friends immersed in the same lifestyle.

Police had unpicked the case after Lyon’s co-accused – conflicted over her role – told a youth aid officer Lyon was using her to get young girls for sex. [Read more…]

Well-known Auckland businessman shackled and sexually violated teenage girls

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A prominent Auckland businessman has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars for operating a dungeon where he forced underage drug-addicted girls to perform sexual acts on him in exchange for methamphetamine.

The court heard the extent of the 59-year-old’s offending left his victims degraded, humiliated and scarred for life.

The man has been granted ongoing name suppression until February next year despite some of his victims and their families wanting the order lifted. [Read more…]