Venkat Raman
An Indo-Fijian woman has been sentenced to undergo a prison term of two years and four months on several counts of fraud and cheating.
The Manukau District Court sentenced Kalpana Narayan on charges that date back by two years, the highlight of which was the way she fooled a man into believing that she was a lawyer and that she would help him in solving the problems that he was going through with his former girlfriend.
In her sentencing notes, Judge Sharon McAuslan said that although not a lawyer, Ms Narayan misled the man to remit into her bank account $195 toward summons and $220 towards a trespass notice. She told the man that the summons had been served. She also told him that his ex-girlfriend had filed an assault charge on him claiming compensation for mental and physical stress.
Assault Charge
Judge McAuslan said that Ms Narayan told the man that the case against him on assault charge was coming up before the Court and that he could either hand himself to the Police or pay a bon of $6650.
Not wanting to be taken into police custody, the man remitted the amount into the bank account of Ms Narayan but smelt something fishy when she told him that the Judge handling the case was her friend and that the man would be let off if he accepted the assault charge and paid $15,000 at the court.
Fraud revealed
The man phoned the law firm which was supposedly employing Ms Narayan. He was told that she did not work there, following which, he telephoned the Court and his former girlfriend only to find that there were no charges against him.
Passport offence
Judge McAuslan said that Ms Narayan was also tried for passport fraud, theft of jewellery, laptop, dress and many other items.
According to the Sentencing Notes, Ms Narayan holds a Fijian passport and a New Zealand Driver’s license. On December 11, 2015, she filed an ‘Urgent, Same Day Application’ for a New Zealand Passport at the Department of Internal Affairs in Auckland giving her name as Aisha Ali with incorrect date of birth. She had stated that she was born in New Zealand. There was an official inquiry during which she said that was recently married into the Muslim faith and that she had taken the name of but Aisha Ali but did not legally changed her name. She told the officials that the date of birth was given by her mother and that she was born in New Zealand.
Enormity of offences
The Sentencing Notes read, “Ms Narayan, you are finally here for sentence with respect to a very large number of matters and they are passport fraud on December 11, 2015, theft of jewellery on December 31, 2015 and January 2, 2016, theft of cash on March 21, 2016, theft of numerous items, including a laptop and a bag to the value of $1000, on April 9, document charge on April 13 and April 14, theft of a dress and bag on April 16 and 17, and failure to appear in court on April 19.”
Ms Narayan also faced several other charges including obtaining by deception on May 4, 11, July 6, theft of jewellery and other items between July 6 and July 22 and deception on July 15. Together with all of those police matters, there are probation matters also.”
Ms Narayan also faced breach of supervision on January 27 and February 17 and breach of community work on February 20.
“An application to cancel the sentence of community work was granted and there is to be a re-sentencing exercise on those matters,” Judge McAuslan said.
