Community service for salary fraud accountant
Auckland chartered accountant Mark Benjamin, who tampered with a company pay roll to boost his salary, was sentenced to 200 hours community service today.
Auckland chartered accountant Mark Benjamin, who tampered with a company pay roll to boost his salary, was sentenced to 200 hours community service today.
Benjamin, 45, was convicted on seven fraud charges concerning salary manipulation.
The charges link back to 2006 where, as chief financial officer of bulk food importer Kerry (NZ), he tampered with the payroll to boost his $165,000 salary by $10,000 and to manipulate holiday pay to his advantage.
Earlier this month, Benjamin lost his High Court appeal to keep name suppression in place ahead of sentencing.
Benjamin is a former director of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and government-owned Hort Research and was recently working as a self-employed consultant.
He has also worked internationally for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He appealed to the High Court to keep his identity secret on the grounds publication of his name would harm his professional reputation as a chartered accountant and that stress of the criminal proceedings had adversely affected his mental health.
But on December 1, Justice Timothy Brewer denied the appeal and said he could not find compelling reason to keep the suppression in place.
Georgina Bond
Tue, 21 Dec 2010
Tue, 21 Dec 2010
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Community service for salary fraud accountant
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