Charged with unlawfully taking $1.4 million, Edward James Quirke and Claire Elizabeth Quirke were refused name suppression. Police allege the funds were stolen from Mrs Quirke’s mother. Her mother was against name suppression; she wants details made public.
Living in Christchurch, the Quirkes face trial sometime late 2019. They pleaded not guilty to accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes and have elected trial by jury. Police allege they dishonestly accessed bank accounts in the names of ‘Robin B Milligan’ and ‘Milligan’s Radio (1972) Ltd’ without authority 92 times over a sixteen month period ending December 2017. Robin Milligan is Mrs Quirke’s late father. Mrs Quirke’s mother is the sole executor and beneficiary of Robin Milligan’s estate. The allegedly wrongful withdrawals began soon after Mr Milligan died. Police identified that Mr Quirke spent approximately $569,000 of this money gambling and $122,800 purchasing assets, with a further $566,750 transferred to other accounts and $121,900 withdrawn from ATMs.
The Quirkes said interim name suppression was necessary to protect their business interests. Mr Quirke operates a pest control business; Mrs Quirke an online marketing company under the name QEC Holdings Ltd. Justice Gendall ruled neither met the threshold of ‘extreme hardship’ necessary for name suppression.
Quirke v. Police – High Court (14.08.18)
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