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A judge has told the IHC it is unlikely it will recover more
than $500,000 stolen by a former manager.
Lynn Fiebig was on Friday sentenced to three years in jail after
the court heard she used the charity money to help pay for her own
luxury lodge.
Fiebig, 56, had in January admitted to 72 charges of defrauding the IHC after she helped herself to the charity money for more than two years.
"I will forever live with the shame of my actions. I seriously breached the trust others placed in me," the court heard in a statement written by Fiebig.
The IHC's former fund raising manager stole $590,000 by making 74 fake invoices which she paid into her own bank accounts.
She used it to fund a five star luxury lodge in Ohakune which she bought with her partner.
"The offending occurred over a significant period, it was
persistent, repetitious and clearly premeditated," the judge said
in court.
Fiebig hung her head in shame as she listened to the IHC's victim
impact statement
"I am that concerned her actions have jeopardised the reputation and financial stability of an organisation that my son and several thousand like him depend on," the statement said.
The court heard how early last year the IHC was under financial pressure so it made several staff redundant as a cost saving measure. Fiebig was instrumental in this decision, an act the judge described as appalling and callous.
"People with intellectual disabilities have missed out on programmes we run in the community, and comments from donors of not being trustworthy and for all of us working for IHC, it shatters our confidence," the judge told the court.
One mother says it also shatters the confidence of 35,000 families who have IHC children.
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