Bronwyn Rutter received a 12-month home detention sentence when she recently appeared for sentence in the Te Kūiti District Court for taking nearly $1.6 million from her sister.
A bid by fraudster Bronwyn Rutter to move to Australia was thwarted as a district court judge sentenced her to home detention at her recent sentencing. Rutter, 67, had earlier been convicted of taking almost $1.6 million from an ailing older sister. Judge Brett Cowley, in Te Kuiti District Court, sentenced her to 12 months’ home detention. He said there had to be a custodial element in her sentence. “My recollection is she pleaded guilty on the morning of her trial, which was something of a late decision,” he said. Rutter appeared for sentence on representative charge of theft from a person in a special relationship. She had had an enduring power of attorney since 2019 and started taking money after her older sister was assessed as mentally incapable in March 22, the court was told. Eleven times from March to July 2022 Rutter took money from her sister’s account – including $1.518 million to buy a house. Rutter told her sister’s lawyer the money was taken with consent – but the lawyer told her the sister wasn’t mentally fit to consent and that Rutter was not permitted to make withdrawals.
The house money was returned but there were other withdrawals including for a vehicle, for which Rutter was ordered to pay reparation of $67, 607.66. Weir sought a sentencing discount of 20% because of personal circumstances covered in a psychological report. The vehicle bought with the money had been sold, Rutter had no funds and was not in a position to make reparation. But she would be able to pay it off in full when money came through from an estate, he said.
Weir sought a sentencing discount of 20 per cent because of personal circumstances covered in a psychological report. Prosecutor Baden Hilton – who sought a starting point of five and a half years jail – wanted the reparation ordered, in full if Rutter was to have an income. Afterward the hearing a family spokeswoman said in a statement Rutter’s financial exploitation of their sister, sister-in-law and aunt was a despicable betrayal by a family member entrusted to care for her elderly and vulnerable sister. “The ramifications of Bronwyn’s actions have irreparably split our family and will filter down through the generations for decades to come.” “There are no winners in this case because we were once a tight-knit family.”
