Man jailed for fraud on gold deal

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 22

Man jailed for fraud on gold deal

A man who fraudulently obtained gold bullion, valued at $41,636, was jailed in the District Court yesterday for this and other offences.

Judge Noble termed the defendant, Norman William Bradley, aged 52, a sickness beneficiary, a persistent and consistent drug abuser, and a menace to society.

Bradley was sentenced to imprisonment for one year 11 months on the charge of defrauding Lord’s Jewellers, Ltd, Auckland, of 61 ‘/ 2 ounces of gold by falsely representing that a cheque for $41,636 was a good and valid order. An additional six months imprisonment was imposed on two charges of selling a class C controlled drug, temgesic tablets, to an undercover constable.

On a charge of possessing temgesic tablets he received a concurrent sentence of three months imprisonment. His total jail term will be two years five months. Bradley had pleaded guilty to the fraud involving the gold purchase, which occurred in Auckland in March. The gold was in three ingots, one of Ikg, one of 20oz, and the third of 2oz. When the police apprehended Bradley, staying under an assumed name in an Auckland hotel, only the 2oz ingot was recovered.

He had pleaded guilty, before a scheduled trial

by jury, to charges of selling nine temgesic tablets for $3OO, and nine tablets for $270, to an undercover constable, last July.

Bradley also admitted possessing temgesic tablets on May 5. After hearing submissions by defence counsel, Mr Peter Dyhrberg, the Judge said Bradley had committed the fraud to obtain the gold ingots by “apparently skilfully” altering a cheque from $lO to $41,636. Only 2oz had been recovered, and reparation was quite out of the question.

The Judge said Bradley had a long list of previous convictions, beginning from when was aged 20. Mr Dyhrberg said the benefit Bradley derived from the gold transaction was only $l2OO, the value of the 2oz of gold which the police found in his possession. He reinforced these comments by indicating the relatively low expenditure by Bradley after the offence, and his sources of money from other areas.

These included money fronm the Social Welfare Department for a down payment on a flat in Christchurch, the unemployment benefit and proceeds of a drug sale.

Mr Dyhrberg said the drug sales offences, involving 18 tablets, were at the lower end of the scale of seriousness for these offences.