Published: 10:19AM Thursday May 26, 2011 Source: ONE News
Hamilton chartered accountant Gary Soffe will be allowed to stay in the palatial multi-million dollar home he built using stolen money.
Soffe admitted siphoning more than $4 million from a family trust he was responsible for administrating.
He pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including nine of theft when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court today.
The accountant used the money to build one of the most spectacular homes in the Waikato, as well as buying beach houses and commercial property in Auckland.
While his lawyers consider reparation options, Soffe is staying in his luxurious home which sits on 1.4 hectares and features a pool with a hydro-slide and a flood-lit tennis court. There are grand chandeliers, a guest wing, a media room with a projector and bar, and even a wine cellar decorated to look like a Medieval dungeon.
ONE News checked the property records and Soffe is still listed as the owner of the property, but the mortgage is with the family trust. The home is now on the market, along with other properties he acquired with the money - a beach house in Whangamata, an apartment near the beach at Mt Maunganui, and a commercial property in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington.
The family Soffe stole from do not wish to speak publicly and their identities have been suppressed by the court.
It is understood the family trust owns tens of millions of dollars worth of farms and commercial property in the Waikato and Auckland.
Police say money was taken by Soffe on at least nine different occasions in slabs of up to $1 million at a time.
His business offices have been cleared out and he has been suspended as a chartered accountant.
He will be back in court in July for sentencing.
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Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/embezzling-accountant-stays-in-ill-gained-mansion-4189035?ref=rss
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