14 March 2018

Fraud: Anderton v. Police

The High Court confirmed eighteen months imprisonment for Joshua Kenneth Anderton on 34 charges of fraudulently obtaining $48,405 selling items online never delivered.  Anderton’s appeal seeking home detention was dismissed.  Justice Toogood said a more appropriate jail term would have been more than two years.
The court was told Anderton made bogus sales on TradeMe and other online platforms.  He muddied the trail by using a number of different trading accounts and bank accounts.  He took control of his mother’s TradeMe account, changing her password and fraudulently trading through her account.  Whilst on bail awaiting trial, Anderton continued to defraud buyers with further bogus online sales.
Exploiting the trust of others by deliberate dishonesty and deception warrants a deterrent approach to sentencing which would not have been reflected adequately in this case by a sentence of home detention, Justice Toogood said.  There was evidence 23 year old Anderton had no prior convictions for dishonesty but had failed to perform community work imposed for driving offences.
Anderton v. Police – High Court (14.03.18)
18.053