Final two ad scammers sentenced
The gavel has landed on ad scammers Noelene Banton and Johannes Middledorp.
The gavel has landed on ad scammers Noelene Banton and Johannes Middledorp in the High Court at Wellington today.
The pair were found guilty of dishonestly reproducing advertising invoice documents with intent to deceive and convicted following a seven-week trial, which ended in April.
Ms Banton was sentenced to 12 months home detention and 200 hours of community work while Mr Middledorp was sentenced to three years in jail.
They were two of six people arrested following a joint enforcement agency operation led by the Serious Fraud Office. Five of the six were convicted.
In May the lead offender, Anthony John Hendon, was sentenced to four years in jail.
Two other defendants were sentenced to home detention and community work respectively after pleading guilty.
The investigation, involving seven different agencies and 67 staff, was labelled Operation Edit.
Overall, the scam attempted to obtain more than $1 million from about 1000 victims.
The scam involved offenders copying pre-existing advertisements from genuine publications and promising prospective advertisers that similar advertisements would be printed and distributed in magazines to be produced by the defendants.
To encourage the advertisers to buy in, the magazines were titled in a way that suggested support of worthwhile causes, such as road safety, parenting or family support.
SFO director Julie Read says the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime.
“This type of offending is also serious because of its capacity to diminish the confidence of those who rely upon New Zealand’s reputation as a safe place to invest and do business.”
She thanked the partner agencies for their involvement.
Campbell Gibson
Fri, 12 Jun 2015
Fri, 12 Jun 2015
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Final two ad scammers sentenced
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