Elizabeth Risk says the line "Forgive us our trespasses" has stuck in her throat throat ever since Nigel Thompson (pictured) befriended her at her retirement village and emptied her bank account.

He conned $20,000 from her.

Risk, a widow and devout Christian, says she can't say the Lord's Prayer. She can't forgive Thompson but prays one day she will be able to.

Thompson appeared for sentencing in the Christchurch District Court in July.

He had pleaded guilty to multiple charges of theft, deception and tax fraud. Most charges related to events between 2015 and 2019.

Judge Mark Callaghan sentenced him to three years and seven months' jail, reduced by 10 months for time served on remand.

He also refused Thompson's request for name suppression.

Callaghan banned Thompson from managing a company for five years.

Thompson is appealing his sentence.

At the High Court in Christchurch on Thursday, Justice Anne Hinton confirmed Thompson's name suppression was no longer in place.

She also reserved her decision on his appeal against his sentence.

How the fraud occurred

Risk met Thompson in March 2019.

Calling himself John, Thompson placed an ad for car grooming services at Lady Isaac Retirement Village.

He and his two boys quickly formed a relationship with her.

They visited her and she bought the boys gifts and cooked meals for them.

She also lent Thompson $6000.

After a trip to Melbourne, Risk was shocked to find she had nothing in her bank account.

Thompson was concerned and sympathetic.

Phone calls from a person who claimed he was from the bank's head office followed. That person claimed he was sorting out her loss. He told her not to bother her local bank.

Eventually, Risk discovered Thompson had used her bank card and PIN. He also pretended to be a head office bank staff member.

She was shocked and devastated he had used his children to foster trust and was left wondering if she could trust anyone.

Thomson's dishonesty destroyed her relationship with the boys, leaving her feeling "used and betrayed".

The conman had also pressured her in emails not to pursue the matter with the police.

Over time he paid back the money.

Fraud an ongoing method

Many of Thompson's other fraudulent crimes related to his time as a car dealer.

Others involved defrauding the IRD of about $287,000 meant for PAYE and Kiwi Saver, and claiming multiple income tax refunds.

He also ripped off a church.

In 2019, Thompson worked and volunteered for the Celebration Church and its car dealership Gateway. His dishonesty incurred losses of $34,000.

Crown counsel Sean Mallett said it appeared Thompson had a sense of entitlement and did not accept responsibility for his offending.

Judge Callaghan said the offending was linked to Thompson wanting to maintain a successful business facade.

Thompson used the money to support his gambling addiction.

Thompson could not claim his offending was mitigated by his previous good character because he had 125 previous convictions for dishonesty charges between 1991 and 2002.

Source

• Stuff

The thieves' ruse involved dressing as priests, monsignors and cardinals and presenting themselves as "intermediaries of the Vatican" to business owners in financial trouble.

They offered their victims seemingly advantageous loans either from the Vatican bank or a non-existent Luxembourg financial company called "Eurozone," without requiring personal financial guarantees.

All they requested of their "investors" was an upfront cash payment, billed as good faith money, which the group would collect before vanishing.

The undercover sting operation saw police play their own game using disguises. They dressed themselves as priests and lay in wait at the Basilica of Holy Mary of the Angels and Martyrs in central Rome.

The con men were using the church as a base for a new exchange, having made an appointment to collect 15,000 euros as a surety for a loan of 500,000 euros.

When the group attempted to leave the basilica the "priests" stopped them.

Although the five thieves' swindling trail goes back to 1988, it wasn't until 2017 that the police received complaints from two hotels scammed out of 20,000 euros and 75,000 euros in 2017.

A number of other scams has seen many other Church charities skimmed of money.

To help defend themselves against con men and other fraudsters, the Diocese of Padua in northern Italy launched a new training course recently for clergy.

Its aims are to help clergy recognise fraud and to learn good business and financial management practices.

Padua's bishop decided to launch the course after an elderly priest in the area who used to run a charity was swindled out of more than $450,000.

For years, the priest had lent money to scam artists pretending to be individuals and families in need, often asking him to give them prepaid credit cards or cash and promising to repay the money.

When the priest finally stepped down from his role leading the charity and no longer had access to the money, the criminals began making threats, so he turned to the police, leading to the arrest in May of 11 people.

Source

• The Tablet
• Crux Now
• Image: The Tablet

Torzi, who was arrested after questioning by Vatican magistrates, was accused of extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud and money laundering, the Vatican press office said in a statement. Torzi is the first person to be arrested in connection with the deal.

The investigation had led to the suspension last year of five Vatican employees, the resignation of the Vatican's police chief and the departure of the former head of the Vatican's Financial Information Authority (AIF). Read more

Diaz told police the money was his salary; it wasn't. Continue reading

The court is currently hearing conflicting reports about Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone's role in the fraud investigation. Bertone is the former Secretary of State under Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Read more

In addition, Oslo diocese's chief administrative officer has been charged with aggravated fraud.

The Government in Norway finances the churches. The amount they pay is in proportion to the number of church members.

Accusers say the Oslo diocese searched telephone books to build up their imaginary membership.

They say the diocese targeted immigrants' whose names appeared to come from Catholic countries.

They were then listed as Catholic church members without their knowledge.

The fraud is alleged to have occurred between 2011 and 2014.

As a result of this alleged activity, the church has been able to get more money from the Government than it would otherwise be due.

If the diocese refuses to pay the fine it will have to face trial.

The Norwegian Government also wants the Catholic church to refund 40.6m kroner (NZ $8,168,941.) which they say has been overpaid.

"We've never done anything illegal or received too much money," the Catholic church said in a statement.

"We have always recognised that we have made mistakes and had an unfortunate practice in parts of our registration. This was cleaned up a long [time] ago."

Source

• The Local
• The Guardian
• Image: Catholic News Agency

The protest was held on Monday outside a public meeting presented by the Finance Minister Bill English and National List MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar at Lynfield Community Church, Lynfield, Auckland.

The reason for this protest was simply for the students to reach out to the New Zealand government through Mr Bill English in their plea for justice. It is to be noted that the Minister of Immigration has now completely refused to meet the students and the committee (representatives from The Catholic Church in NZ, The Anglican Church in NZ, Barrister Rodney Harrison QC, Secretary of NZ Council of Trade Unions) supporting them. Continue reading

The students' visa documents have been found to be forged by agents in India.

The students' representatives, who include a lawyer and leaders from the Catholic and Anglican churches and the Council of Trade Unions, had asked for a meeting with Mr Woodhouse to talk about their treatment.

The Vicar General for the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, Gerard Burns, said the students were victims.

The initial request was denied, and subsequent requests have not been replied to, he said.

"I'm sure there are many reasons why the Minister of Immigration may not want to meet with us," said Burns.

"But what we were aiming at was to put the case on a face-to-face basis with the minister, because there is obviously something clearly wrong with the system here."

A spokesperson for Mr Woodhouse said it was not possible to meet the request within the timeframe given, and it would not be appropriate to meet while cases were being considered.

Anu Kaloti, of the Migrant Workers Association said the Indian agents who organised their visas were responsible for the fraudulent documents yet they had escaped punishment.

Some are still in business and promising more students the chance to come to New Zealand.

She said some agents had closed and reopened in the name of another family member, she said.

"Whenever the students try to reach them they have changed phone numbers or email addresses."

The students' case was raised in parliament last week and gained support from Labour, Green Party and New Zealand First.

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• radionnz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia is being investigated in connection with the sale of the historic San Girolamo castle four years ago.

Two employees of Paglia's former diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia have been arrested.

Prosecutors are probing Paglia on allegations of criminal conspiracy and fraud in relation to the sale of the castle to real estate company IMI immobiliare, which was headed by one of the arrested diocese employees.

Diocese funds were allegedly used illegally and money was found to be missing from those funds.

Continue reading

The diocese has been accused of vastly exaggerating its membership to increase the support it receives from the state.

This came to an additional 50 million Norwegian Krone, some NZD$8.58 million, over four years.

The Bishop of Oslo, Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, and the diocesan finance officer are suspects in the case.

The diocese allegedly added 65,000 people to its membership by lifting immigrants' names from the telephone directory without their consent.

This doubled the number of Catholics living in the country.

Bishop Eidsvig said that the diocese had been trying to record the Catholics who came to live in the majority-Lutheran country and never intended to do anything illegal.

Continue reading

Originally convicted by Judge Susan Thomas of defrauding the Hibernian Society, Judge Thomas, did not order Hagai to repay the $1,242,750 she stole from the society.

At that time the court heard there were no assets to be sold, and Hagai had spent the money on her children's education and her family's lifestyle, including travel and sporting events.

The Hibernian Society sued Hagai in the High Court at Wellington.

In February, associate Judge Roger Bell said there were "inconsistent decisions" on where such cases could be decided and said the Employment Relations Authority should hear it.

Details of three years of unauthorised transactions were put before the authority as evidence.

Hagai was found to have transferred $574,000 from the society's accounts into accounts belonging to her and her husband between May 2007 and June 2010.

Hagai served about 16 months of the sentence. She impressed the Parole Board.

"We were of the unanimous view that she presented in a very authentic and genuine manner. She is very remorseful for her offending," the board said.

She was freed on March 19 last year but the conditions of her parole continue until December next year.

The conditions include not managing money in a paid or unpaid capacity without the permission of a probation officer.

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
  
• TVNZ
• Image: 3News

The Wellington Foodbank Service - not associated with the one run by the Wellington City Mission - has also now been stripped of its charitable status, with the Department of Internal Affairs advising major donors not to hand over more money.

The bulk of existing donations appear to be have disappeared, as liquidators find the charity's bank accounts emptied and almost nothing of value in its Wellington CBD offices. Continue reading

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was arrested on a charge of attempting to smuggle €20 million ($NZ33.5 million) into Italy illegally. He was already being investigated on suspicion of money-laundering.

Scarano, a senior accountant aged 61, was arrested along with an Italian secret service agent and a financial broker.

A Reuters correspondent said a magistrate's report on the plot read like a spy novel — involving a private plane that was to collect the cash in Switzerland, burned cell phones, a shady financier and the allegedly corrupt secret service agent who promised to slip the money past customs.

The magistrate said Scarano felt he could act with impunity because he had connections with the Vatican Bank — an agency he saw as "the only safe and rapid instrument for financial and banking operations that could evade — if not outright violate — laws against money laundering and tax evasion".

Court documents said there was no indication so far that the bank was directly involved in Scarano's attempt to smuggle the money into Italy on behalf of the wealthy d'Amico shipowning family in southern Italy.

But Italian newspapers speculated that Scarano may have been planning to use the bank to launder at least some of the Swiss money for his friends later.

The €20 million belonged to the d'Amicos and was presumably being held in Switzerland to avoid paying Italian taxes. Scarano apparently undertook to smuggle the money back to Italy.

"As far as I know, Father Nunzio was only trying to help some friends and then entered a mechanism that later revealed to be dangerous for him too," Scarno's lawyer said. "I believe he did it with naivety".

Sources:

Reuters

Associated Press

National Catholic Reporter

Image: Catholic Herald

As a result of an investigation by the church's general auditor it is alleged that approximately $342,000 in church funds have been misappropriated.

One pastor from Eu'a, one from Vava'u and the others from Nuku'alofa remain with their parishes but on suspended duties. None of the ministers has accepted the allegations.

The Church's Director, Reverend Dr Mohenoa Puloka, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program that as a result, none of its ministers will now be allowed to be involved in dealing with church money, but he agrees the damage has already been done.

"It will cause a lot of people to question the fitness and reliability of the clergy," he said.

"It is bad publicity for the church."

Puloka says despite "firm evidence" of their actions, the ministers involved say the discrepancy resulted from a computing error.

He says with at least one case dating back to 2005, it is so disappointing.

"Part of my reason for doing this now, is that part of it is that it's my moral responsibility. Also to acknowledge the fact that we have to respect the people. It's their money that were entrusted to these clergy and they were not doing a good job on that so we have to do that. Over all our years this is a big shakeup in the church."

Source

• Radio Australia Pacific Beat
• Radio New Zealand International
• Image: Moralcompass.blog.com

But Father John William Fitzmaurice, 57, was refused bail pending his appeal after the jail term was imposed in the Christchurch District Court on February 27, so he has already served two weeks in prison.

The appeal was heard in the High Court at Christchurch before Justice Graham Panckhurst today.

Fitzmaurice, who worked as a priest in the Christchurch diocese for 34 years, had admitted eight charges of dishonestly using documents and obtaining money by deception.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: 3News

Bishop Jones expressed "disappointment" that his once-trusted priest had been jailed, having pleaded to the court for him to receive home detention.

He was also saddened to lose the services of "a very able and gifted" priest.

"His offending has caused great scandal - he had a very high reputation amongst people and people were very shocked to hear this had happened."

"But he's exercised an excellent ministry for over 30 years, and now we don't have that from him anymore."

The church will continue to support him through his "turmoil", and after counselling, he expected Father Fitzmaurice to come out of prison "stronger".

They had paid his living costs, covered his legal fees and counselling costs, and since the convicted fraudster had no assets or any savings were realistic that he couldn't pay any reparation.

But Bishop Jones said: "Some kind of symbolic reparation when he's in a position to do so... we'd expect that."

Crown prosecutor Marcus Zintl said it had cost the church $31,000 in investigation fees to uncover Fitzmaurice's offending. Reparation of $149,000 was sought but the church was realistic in acknowledging Fitzmaurice's inability to pay.

Zintl said the offending involved 735 separate acts of dishonesty. It was highly calculated and premeditated offending.

"The offender was a man of faith, but the very faith that was placed in him by the Catholic church and the community, he has betrayed."

Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton told the judge: "He stands before you for sentencing truly ashamed and deeply remorseful for the harm he has caused."

Eaton said Fitzmaurice was aware of the breach of trust towards the bishop, the church, parishioners, family, and friends.

He said said a report described the offending as "a spiralling vocational and emotional meltdown over several years".

He said Fitzmaurice, who had entered the seminary at 17 and became a priest at 23, could still work for the church he had devoted his life to.

While he could never work in Christchurch again, Eaton said an "olive branch" had been extended by the Bishop of Auckland.

Eaton also indicated they would be challenging the sentence and applying for Father Fitzmaurice's release on bail pending the hearing of an appeal.

Source

• NewsTalkZB
• New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: 3News

He committed the fraud while he was the parish priest at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and at Addington's Sacred Heart Parish.

The charges relate to his using 242 cheques drawn on the Catholic Cathedral Parish and Addington Parish accounts, which were either cashed or paid into his account.

He also admitted dishonestly making 358 automatic teller withdrawals totalling $54,430.

Fitzmaurice was suspended by Bishop Barry Jones in September 2011.

What he did with all the money remains unclear, but on Monday the Bishop of Christchurch Barry Jones told The Press : "I understand there was gambling involved."

Judge Jane Farish remanded Fitzmaurice on bail for sentencing on February 27.

She called for a pre-sentence report and a report on his suitability for home detention, and his ability to pay reparations to the church.

Source

• The Press
• The Press
• Image: AnglicansAblaze

Church members had been told by Saulala to raise more than $1 million to invest in a scheme organised by Nelson man, David John Hobbs.

In late October The New South Wales Supreme Court found Hobbs masterminded a Ponzi scheme network that fleeced Australian investors of more than NZ$60 million

The court of found there was 'ample evidence' of improper payments out of fund monies including Ponzi payments, the payment of Mr Hobbs' private expenses and payments to Mr Hobbs' family and also to some scheme administrators.

It is still unclear exactly how much of the church's money ended up in the scheme.

The church is now trying to get money from the liquidator.

Saulala has refused requests to have the church accounts independently audited.

Pohiva Tu'I'Onetoa, who is also a lay preacher, told ONE News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver that Saulala "controls everything".

"What worries me most is the way the president runs the church, he is not accountable to anybody," he said.

"I believe the president should step aside."

Source

• TVNZ
• TNews
• WP
• Image: TNews

According to the summary of facts, 38 year old Amelia Siaosi, the wife of the Pastor of the Good Samaritan church in Vaivase-uta, stole a substantial amount of money from her former employer, South Pacific Business Development (SPBD) Group.

The court heard that the defendant had made fake passports and had forged customer signatures as well as that of the Manager of the company. She was found guilty on 44 counts of theft and forgery.

Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai said that the sentence for this particular matter was "imposed to deter the defendant and others who are like minded."

"Theft as a servant is on the rise," said Justice Vaai. He said the defendant as a pastor's wife had shown no remorse whatsoever.

He also noted that the defendant, in her testimony, had called two lawyers and senior officer of SPBD liars and conspirators and therefore was not satisfied with her evidence.

Source

• Talamua On-Line
• Image: Books tell you why

The group paid a fraudulent immigration adviser $250 each for return airfares from Auckland to Tonga.

Waikato police today said they had been contacted by 15 people who had bought the tickets but were aware of many more in Auckland and others as far away as Wellington and the South Island.

Police are working to establish the extent of the scam and want to hear from anyone who fell victim to it.

Continue reading