After getting caught in the devastating sharemarket crash of the 1980s, Michael Anselmi was determined to protect not only his family but his employees if he ever went back into business.

And he did.

He set up Customkit Buildings in Pukekohe 31 years ago.

The small, but dedicated and trusted team of six others specialised in constructing barn-style homes.

By April 2023, Anselmi’s form of business protection was having a “buffer” of around $500,000 that he had built up for a worst-case scenario situation.

That same month, local woman Elizabeth Audrey Donohue was hired. The 49-year-old worked in the office doing the accounts, paying invoices, and was one of five women hired after Anselmi’s wife had earlier retired.

“We’d trusted them all,” Anselmi told NZME outside the Pukekohe District Court earlier this week.

Donohue, who was supported in court by family including her son, had just been jailed for three years and five months on charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and money laundering after fleecing $522,769.41 by creating 58 invoices for fictitious work or supplies over a 14-month period.

The court heard Donohue didn’t know why she offended but was glad she finally got caught.

She spent the stolen money on holidays, jewellery, botox, debts, and gave more than $15,000 each to her son and partner.

Fellow employee Julie aptly described the situation in court and how Donohue’s offending brought the company “to its knees”.

By the end of October last year, the company was forced to fold, leaving all employees jobless.

‘You think you’ve got it under control’

The Anselmi family is well-respected by not only their former employees, who all turned up to the sentencing, but they even have a local street named after them.

And it’s those employees that the 70-year-old is the most gutted for.

“These guys have nowhere to go now,“ Anselmi said, nodding towards his former employees, standing outside after Donohue was sentenced.

“They’re not going to jobs.”

Elizabeth Audrey Donohue, known as Liz, arrives at the Pukekohe District Court for sentencing on charges relating to the theft of $522,000 from her former employer. Photo / Belinda Feek

After getting caught up in the sharemarket crash, he and wife, Jude, “dumped everything” to get debt-free.

“We had a pretty tough time, and I said to myself that if I’m staying in business, I’ll build a buffer so that this can never happen again.

“That buffer will always get us through a downturn and that’s what she stole, the buffer.

“That kept everybody employed for a minimum of 12 months. We could pay all the overheads, all the wages ... to get through.

“You think you’ve got everything under control, you think that you’re doing everything right ... then you find out this.”

Not only did they lose the money Donohue stole, but the business, which he estimated was worth about $1.5 million.

“So there’s a couple of million dollars gone now that is no longer ours to retire with.”

Instead, they’re having to sell their family farm and downsize and likely, at the age of 70, having to return to work.

But seeing Donohue jailed brought some relief.

“It’s nice to see a sentence that actually reflects the damage that’s been done ... rather than home detention.”

But he was unsure whether he’d sleep any better, or stop waking up at 2am and wandering aimlessly around the house thinking of what he could have done differently to prevent it all happening.

“It’s not just for Jude and I, we’ll survive, it’s for these guys here, they’re the ones who are really going to struggle because they were close to that retirement period ... now they’re back out in the workforce trying to find a job.

Elizabeth Donohue in the Pukekohe District Court on Tuesday when she was jailed for stealing more than $500,000 from her former employer Customkit Buildings. Photo / Belinda Feek

“But it is what it is, the judge has done the best he can do.”

‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing’

Kevin Horne was one of the employees who was going to work at Customkit until he retired.

He not only enjoyed his job but was proud to be part of a team that “trusted, respected, and honoured each other”.

That was until the day Donohue arrived.

“Little did we know that we had let a wolf in sheep’s clothing into our work family,” he told the court.

“That day sealed the fate of myself and each of my colleagues.

“Because of you, the company was to shut down with the loss of all jobs.

“Elizabeth, your antics have cost me my job, a job I had envisaged remaining in until my retirement. A job I loved.

“You stole my future, my security, my confidence, and my peace of mind.

“You were a thief in our midst, a robber, a self-centred egotistic, conniving, cruel monster who cared about nobody but yourself.”

‘Second-hand jewellery sells for up to 50% less’

Police prosecutor Sergeant Paul Watkins described Donohue’s offending as “deliberate, calculated deception”.

He refuted Donohue’s suggestion that the handing back of jewelleryshe’d bought – totalling $171,000 – was now worth the same as what she paid for it.

Most second-hand jewellery sold for 20% to 50% of its original price, he said.

“A more realistic valuation is approximately $85,500,” he said.

Urging the judge to jail Donohue, instead of allowing home detention, Watkins said the court needed to “send a clear message that fraud and theft of this nature will not be tolerated”.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.