The fraud triangle (plus one)

Trusted people who commit fraud have more than just motive and opportunity in common.

- MARC WILSON

In March, Christchurch office administrator Sasha-Maree Phillips was jailed for four years after stealing more than $850,000 from her employers. She had no money to show for it, having reportedly gambled it all away.

That sounds like a rare big-ticket theft, but there seem to be lots of examples of otherwise everyday folk stealing from their employers. In January, Morrinsville woman Ronel Viljoen was convicted of stealing $30,000 from the haulage company she worked for. She spent the money on various things, including repairs and servicing on five vehicles. And a couple of weeks ago, Hamilton woman Lisa Ann McKenzie was convicted of stealing at least $7000 from Early Education Waikato between 2021 and 2023.

Leave for a minute the fact that all three examples - just the most recent that came up in my online search for “theft from employer” - were women. Why do people do these kinds of cons on the people they work most closely with?