{"id":447484,"date":"2026-05-27T09:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/447484\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T09:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:08:08","slug":"trusted-accounts-worker-melanie-kingi-jailed-for-stealing-823k-from-charity-organisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/447484\/","title":{"rendered":"Trusted accounts worker Melanie Kingi jailed for stealing $823k from charity organisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, she was jailed in the Hamilton District Court<\/a> on a charge of theft by a person in a special relationship.<\/p>\n

Kingi, through her counsel Mark Jepson, fought to keep her name a secret, suggesting that if her name was printed<\/a>, it could identify her former employer, who feared a sudden loss of donations if their name was published.<\/p>\n

While Judge Garry Collin agreed to suppress the name of the charitable organisation<\/a>, he said there was no information before him that would see him suppress her name.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour name should be published because the community is entitled to know about those who steal from community organisations for their own benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransparency, the interest of future employers favours publication.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also fired a shot at the gambling institutions that profited from Kingi\u2019s theft, telling them to engage with the charity and arrange to pay the money back.<\/p>\n

\u2018Four bank accounts, an Eftpos card, a Travelex account\u2019<\/p>\n

Kingi, who was supported in court by her father and husband, was employed by the charity between 2021 and October 2025 as a senior administrator.<\/p>\n

She helped a senior staff member execute daily tasks.<\/p>\n

In that role, she assisted the CEO, but as the role developed, Kingi took on more responsibility around the organisation\u2019s bank accounts and finance.<\/p>\n

She also gained operating authorisation on a number of their accounts.<\/p>\n

In an ASB bank account she shared with her husband, Kingi deposited $490,841.55 between July 1, 2022, and September 30, 2025, with references of \u201cKoha\u201d and \u201cGrateful Volunteers\u201d.<\/p>\n

She made further deposits totalling $10,530 into her own Kiwibank account with references including \u201cmaara kai\u201d and \u201crefund\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a Heartland bank account Kingi shared with her husband, she deposited $100,274.60, and in an ANZ account with her husband, deposited $190,126.77.<\/p>\n

Kingi put a total of $791,772.92 into accounts shared with her husband, who isn\u2019t employed or associated with the charity.<\/p>\n

There were also ATM withdrawals, when Kingi used the organisation\u2019s petty cash Eftpos card to take out $24,572.50 between January 1, 2022, and October 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

She also used the card to top up her Travelex card on five occasions, totalling $7,482.30.<\/p>\n

The total amount stolen was $823,827.72.<\/p>\n

Kingi declined to comment when arrested.<\/p>\n

\u2018You stole money almost at will\u2019<\/p>\n

Judge Collin noted that the charity knew about Kingi\u2019s previous conviction but decided to \u201cgive you a chance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey allowed you to work for them notwithstanding your conviction, they gave you a responsible position, eventually as [administration]. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou were given the ability to look after and control financial matters for [charity], which is a big deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of that, you had access to their bank accounts. No doubt you were involved in discussions about finance … and raising of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MelanieMelanie Sarah Raumiria Kingi, 46, in the dock of the Hamilton District Court this afternoon. Photo \/ Belinda Feek<\/p>\n

Kingi was in a trusted position, which allowed her to steal money \u201calmost at will\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis continued over a long period of time. The offending was calculated and was intended to deceive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is evident from the coding of the withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I always felt like s**t\u2019<\/p>\n

Judge Collin said Kingi\u2019s offending was \u201cdeliberate, organised and pre-meditated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Initially, it was used for household expenses, then a gambling and \u201cmild\u201d alcohol addiction emerged. <\/p>\n

A pre-sentence report stated Kingi developed a sense of entitlement. It noted that the fraudulent behaviour became like a habit and Kingi stated it never felt good: \u201cI always felt like s**t\u201d. <\/p>\n

Judge Collin said: \u201cYou understood that you let people down. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou said the [charity] was a supportive employer, you acknowledge you let your wh\u0101nau down as well, and everyone affected is picking up the pieces because of the mess and hurt you caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou accept that you do not deserve any sympathy or support and that you have broken the hearts and trust of your employer and wh\u0101nau.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I could have said it better than you have said it yourself, frankly,\u201d Judge Collin told her.<\/p>\n

He said it was relevant to note that there was nothing in Kingi\u2019s upbringing which explained her actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou say your upbringing was a loving and happy one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Collin said there was nothing to suggest that her husband was involved in the theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut little is known of him, and he did not talk to the probation service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kingi accepted Judge Collin\u2019s sentence indication last month, which identified a six-year start point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say, on reflection, I think I was a year too light. I should have started at seven,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n

He also took into account her previous conviction in 2003 for stealing from a similar charity, which also saw her serve jail time.<\/p>\n

After applying discounts, he got down to 64 months, or five years and four months, and left open the possibility of further discounts.<\/p>\n

Kingi had sold her home and had $16,000 as reparation for the charity.<\/p>\n

However, the charity had written to the court, specifically stating they did not want Kingi to get any credit towards her sentence for any reparation.<\/p>\n

Judge Collin agreed and described the amount as \u201cminuscule\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u2018Pokie machines are designed to be addictive\u2019<\/p>\n

He also noted Kingi\u2019s comment that she got a \u201cbuzz\u201d from winning and that would encourage her to gamble more.<\/p>\n

He said it was well known that gambling machines were designed to be addictive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of thousands of dollars has been stolen from [charity] and poked into the casino pokie machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exact amount and the exact recipients remain unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe casino or other gambling institutions are therefore the recipients of stolen money and have profited from your thefts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could order reparations to the charity from the gambling institutions that have profited from your stealing, I would. But I cannot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should voluntarily engage with [charity] and discuss reimbursements of the money received and stolen by you from [charity].\u201d<\/p>\n

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, she was jailed in the Hamilton District Court on a charge of theft by a person in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[206908,14882,1977,2082,71,42,14641,86088,25020,43,4989,4744,40,38,41,39,85539,12767],"class_list":["post-447484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-823k","tag-accounts","tag-charity","tag-for","tag-from","tag-headlines","tag-jailed","tag-kingi","tag-melanie","tag-news","tag-organisation","tag-stealing","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trusted","tag-worker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}