A North Taranaki woman stole more than $50,000 from her Bell Block employer to support her gambling habit. Mandy Frances Sirett, Aged 45, pleaded guilty in the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday 29/05/2013 to three counts of theft .Sirett was working as an office manager and administrator for Henwood Road, Bell Block based Ideal Buildings Taranaki and her duties included accounting, dealing with PAYE tax, quotes, project management of tradesmen and paying wages. In 2010 when the company was still based in Murray Street, Bell Block she began paying herself weekly instead of fortnightly. At first she only did this occasionally but later it became a regular occurrence. Over the next two years she began transferring money from the work bank account to her own. The total amount she took was $51,012.25. She told police she had stolen from her employer because she was short of cash and had a gambling problem. She is due to reappear in court on August 5th 2013.
