Former Te Kuiti accountant Sharon Bradley has been jailed for four years and five months after she was found guilty of fraud in the Te Kuiti District Court earlier this year.
The Court ruled that Bradley was guilty of 12 representative charges of theft by a person in a special relationship; the charges represent 61 different transactions over 12 years.
Bradley, who had name suppression until June 9, stole $2 million over a period of 12 years from her employer, Eight Mile Farms Ltd, a sheep farming operation near Te Kuiti running about 5000 ewes and 8000 lambs. Her offending began in 2007 when she paid an invoice of $17,445.80 for shearing services using Eight Mile’s internet banking. Bradley then reloaded the invoice and transferred the same amount to her personal bank account.
According to court documents, Bradley used this method to steal the $2 million. She resigned in March 2018 to pursue other interests. Bradley’s offending was not discovered until over a year later by the accountant who replaced her.
In January 2021, she told a probation officer that Eight Mile Farms “had it easy” and that “someone was not doing their job” in relation to the approval of payment of invoices.
Bradley’s assets are frozen by the High Court under a separate civil case.
