An accountant who once worked for the Farmers department stores has been struck off after being found guilty of misusing $14,500 worth of gift vouchers.

Anu Radha Sharma, who had name suppression until today, has also been ordered to pay the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants full costs of $7500 associated with its investigation and a disciplinary tribunal hearing.

Tribunal chairman Jim Hoare says Sharma had an obligation to reconcile and then destroy the vouchers, but instead misappropriated them for her own benefit or that of family and friends.

“This occurred on many occasions over a period of more than three years involving in excess of $14,500, much of which was for personal gain.

“The conviction reflected on her fitness to practice accountancy and brought the profession into disrepute,” he says.

Sharma’s personal details remain supressed.

But the tribunal says it is in the interests of the public and its members that her identity is published.

And the Manukau District Court – where Sharma was convicted of three charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage in June – had not supressed her identity.

She did not attend the disciplinary tribunal hearing last month and was not represented by a lawyer.

Decision notes of the NZICA disciplinary tribunal say the case was a breach of trust of a member relating to handling gift vouchers belonging to her employer.