Judge criticises Church for putting pressure on Pasifikans to donate

A Palmerston North judge has criticised the cultural pressures put on Pacific Islanders to give money to churches in New Zealand.

His criticism came after a woman stole more than $27,000 from her workplace to keep up payments to her church.

Ana Fangaiuiha, worked for Countdown in Palmerston North for five years, and was promoted to be a checkout supervisor in January this year. That gave her the power to cash refunds without the permission of others.

She falsely refunding 292 items – including beer, groceries and vouchers – and kept the returned money for herself.

When her theft was discovered, she said she was under financial pressure because she was sending money to her mother in Tonga and making donations to her local church.

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