Glenda Mary Wynyard (49) was found guilty in the Auckland District Court on March 27 of 11 out of 13 Crimes Act charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The former director and owner of The Media Counsel (TMC), a media placement agency, had been on trial for five weeks. She faced two charges of causing loss by deception, seven charges of theft by person in a special relationship and four charges of dishonestly using a document in relation to approximately $1.8 million of payments to media suppliers and client invoices.
Ms Wynyard was convicted of redirecting payments that were due to her accredited agency, Aegis, to repay a debt under an invoice factoring facility. Ms Wynyard was also convicted of presenting cheques she knew would not be honoured and for providing false and misleading information to the Print Media Accreditation Authority to gain accreditation.
Ms Wynyard was acquitted on one count of causing loss by deception and one count of theft by person in a special relationship.
SFO Chief Executive Julie Read said, “New Zealand’s reputation as a safe place to invest and do business supports all businesses in New Zealand. This case demonstrates the importance of transparency and integrity when conducting business, especially in hard times where these boundaries can become blurred.”
Ms Wynyard will reappear for sentencing on April 24, 2015.
Serious Fraud Office Press Release
