Fraudster manipulated accounts to spend $1.6m of church funds at casino

A woman who had "full responsibility" of a church's bank accounts spent $1.6 million of its funds at the casino.

Elizabeth Papu, 52, was finance administrator of the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church's Northern Division when she used the money to fund her gambling habit. 

Stuff.co reports on Thursday she was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment in the Manukau District Court after pleading guilty to two charges of theft by a person in a special relationship. 

Papu admitted she took money from the church and manipulated financial records to hide her actions.

Julie Read, director of the Serious Fraud Office, which led the prosecution, said Papu had full responsibility for the church's bank accounts at the time of her offending. 

"That authority to record transactions and reconcile bank statements allowed her to manipulate the church's financial records and disguise her theft," Read said. 

"The absence of any segregation of duties or oversight in respect of Ms Papu's role created the opportunity for her to misappropriate the church's funds."