Guilty plea to theft of 2000 cheque forms

Press, 14 January 1986, Page 4

Guilty plea to theft of 2000 cheque forms

PA Dunedin The man who provided cheque forms that led to a $600,000 national fraud spree, was remanded when he appeared in the District Court at Dunedin yesterday on a charge of theft as a servant.

Robert Bruce Berryman, aged 27, a machine operator, pleaded guilty to stealing 2000 blank cheques, valued at $l4O, the property of Whitcoulls, Ltd. After hearing evidence from Sergeant Steven Armitage and submissions from Mr Stephen O’Driscoll, Judge Mahon remanded Berryman to February 10 for a probation report and community service assessment.

He allowed bail of $750 and refused an application for continued interim suppression of name. Sergeant Armitage said that in July last year Berryman was employed in Whitcoulls’ Dunedin production division, working a machine printing blank cheque forms.

The cheques did not have an account or coding number, but in December last

year the police had recovered a number of them after they had been used to commit frauds involving property and goods valued at $600,000 throughout New Zealand.

When he was working the machine Berryman had taken the blank forms, and stored them in his locker. A week later he removed them from work and gave them to an associate who said they had the potential to make Berryman $25,000 by Christmas. Berryman had removed a total of 2000 forms valued at 7c each, Sergeant Armitage said. On behalf of Berryman, Mr O’Driscoll said the amount of property taken

from his employer amounted only to $l4O — he had actually only stolen paper. Although the cheques were used for an offence exceeding $600,000, it appeared the police accepted that Berryman had nothing to do with the frauds. They had seen fit to charge him only with the theft of paper, Mr O’Driscoll said.

Seeking continuation of an interim order for name suppression, Mr O’Driscoll said publication could lead to unemployment for his client.

The Judge said he was not impressed with the reasons for the request, and made no order.