Fraudulent share-dealing

Press, 10 July 1987, Page 10

Fraudulent share-dealing

Compensation of $21,735 is sought from a man convicted on 10 charges of fraudulent share-dealing, involving $51,906, and who appeared before judge Hattaway in the District Court yesterday. Sean Eric Bisset, aged 21, a self-employed baker (Mr S. L. Kaminski), was remanded on bail to July 30 for sentence and a reparation report. Detective Sergeant Neville Higgison said that in 1986 Bisset opened an account in his own name with a Wellington sharebroker. He used this account until told by the firm that until a debt of $6OOO was paid no further share transactions would be made.

Bisset then opened another account with the firm using the name of Barry Graham Richards under which he made share transactions to a total value of $51,906. At no stage did he make any payments to the Wellington firm, said Sergeant Higgison. Subsequently Bisset received share certificates for blocks of 1000 shares in Blandford Lodge, Brierley, and Fletcher Challenge, which were taken to Christchurch sharebrokers and sold, after being changed from the name, Richards,

to his own name. Earlier, and with the aid of a bank teller friend (since dealt with by the Court and dismissed by his employer), Bisset had fraudulently opened a Trust Bank account in the name of Richards. Using this account he had also obtained a Cashflow card. Moneys obtained from Bisset’s fraudulent share trading had been deposited into this account and $11,401 was subsequently withdrawn. Bisset, who had been co-operative with the police, said he used the false name because he knew he would not be permitted by the Wellington firm to continue share trading under his own name. Mr Kaminski said there were doubts about the possibility of reparation’s being made. THEFT OF $BlB A housewife who admitted stealing $BlB over a period of three months while acting as treasurer of the Phillipstown Free Kindergarten had used the money to pay household expenses and a mortgage, said Sergeant Higgison. Nancy Georgina Hamilton, aged 31 (Miss P. D. Costigan), was convicted and given a six-month

deferred sentence and ordered to pay compensation in full. When spoken to by the police, Hamilton, a first offender, had said her husband had just started a new business and that customers had been slow paying accounts. She had used the money for mortgage payments and for household expenses. Miss Costigan said the offending occurred when the defendant and her husband were undergoing financial pressures. She was in a position to pay the compensation in full. PRISON TERM No order was made for the payment of $96 sought in compensation from Mark James Dorset, aged 19, unemployed, for the assorted wines he stole from Sir Robert Muldoon’s Hatfields Beach holiday home last September. Dorset (Mr D. Stringer) was jailed for four months. He appeared for sentence on a charge of burglary and also unrelated offences of theft and traffic violations. The goods stolen from Sir Robert’s holiday house were two cartons of assorted wines, most of which had been drunk by Dorest and his friends. A pair of Sir Robert’s cuff-links was recovered.