With a history of dishonesty, Isaac Rapana was sentenced to three years four months jail for frauds against his employer totalling just over $100,000.
The High Court at Wellington was told Rapana defrauded his employer, a company producing portable buildings, multiple times through 2016. A company credit card was used without authority on 36 separate occasions for personal expenses. His employer was talked into making out company cheques payable to cash on the premise that Rapana would pay company accounts with a credit card earning him air points, using the cheques for reimbursement. On multiple occasions, Rapana cashed the cheques but did not pay the company account. After being dismissed, Rapana approached company clients and had them pay company income into his personal account after representing that he still worked for the company. Also after his dismissal, Rapana contacted Spark impersonating his former employer to have the company’s contact number transferred to a new number. Business calls were lost for ten days. He also conned the company’s internet service provider into changing company password access, locking the company out of its computer system for four days.
The court was told his former employer had since gone out of business, though that was not entirely attributable to Rapana’s fraudulent conduct. He has previous convictions for fraud dating from 2012 and 2014. This includes burglary where he retained a key from previous employment, using it to gain access to business premises stealing items.
Rapana v. R. – High Court (23.07.18)
18.145