Auckland (The NZ Today)
A former checkout manager at New World Rototuna has admitted stealing close to $50,000 from the supermarket through a series of fake refunds, manipulated transactions and other deceptive methods.
Amandeep Kaur Singh pleaded guilty in the Hamilton District Court to representative charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and obtaining by deception, according to reporting by the Waikato Times.
Singh had worked at the supermarket since 2011 and rose through the business from the deli department to become checkout manager in 2016.
In that senior position, she was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the checkouts, cash management and transactions, while overseeing eight supervisors and 55 checkout operators.
Her offending took place between October 2023 and February 2024, with the total detected loss reported to be in the vicinity of $50,000.
The court heard Singh used a range of methods to obtain money from the supermarket, including allegedly creating fake Gold Card and Club Card refunds as well as false refunds linked to Rug Doctor and SodaStream rentals.
Other transactions involved refunds for cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol, fuel vouchers, trailer hire, staff discounts, supposed mistakes and what were recorded as “jammed self-service transactions”.
In some cases, customer signatures would normally have been required to verify the refunds, but the transactions reportedly involved customers who did not exist.
The false refunds left till records out of balance. Singh would then allegedly remove cash from the till or issue a gift card for the value of the refund and keep it herself.
She also admitted taking grocery and promotional products, including items connected with MasterChef promotions.
Her employment at New World Rototuna was terminated on 8 March 2024.
While Singh did not comment to police, the Waikato Times reported that she apologised during an internal disciplinary process and admitted the thefts.
She reportedly told management that the behaviour initially began about once a week and increased after it went undetected.
New World Rototuna owner Suresh Chimnall acknowledged there had been weaknesses in the supermarket’s systems that allowed the offending to continue for a period of time, but said those issues had since been addressed.
He described the offending as an abuse of the authority Singh held in her management position and said the case had caused considerable distress for those involved.
The case has also drawn attention because it is not the first time a senior employee at the Rototuna supermarket has been prosecuted for stealing from the business.
In 2017, former store supervisor Rajwinder Kaur, also known as Nikki Kaur, was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention after stealing more than $125,000 worth of tobacco and cigarettes from the supermarket.
Singh is due to be sentenced in February.
Source: Waikato Times reporting and Hamilton District Court proceedings.
