‘Mind-Blowing’ Failure: Judge Slams Petrol Station Tech After $100k Theft Allegations Fall Short

By Lions Roar Aotearoa Justice & Courts Desk

WHANGĀREI, NEW ZEALAND (Sunday, February 1, 2026) — A Whangārei judge has delivered a scathing critique of a local service station’s “hopeless” security systems after a former employee, accused of stealing more than $100,000, was convicted of taking only a fraction of that amount.

In a judge-alone trial at the Whangārei District Court this week, Judge Gene Tomlinson acquitted the employee on two of three major charges, citing an investigation riddled with “gaps” and a point-of-sale (POS) system that “beggars belief.”

💻 The “Hopeless” System

The alleged employee was employed at the Mobil service station on Walton Street between 2018 and 2020. The Crown alleged he manipulated the computer system over 700 times to pocket cash by entering fake sales and then “refunding” them to himself.

However, the trial revealed that the business’s management of its digital and physical assets was severely lacking.

Unprotected Log-ins: Evidence showed up to 10 different log-ins were being used on the POS, but “log-in equals operator” was proven to be false. There was no proof that the person logged in was actually the person behind the counter.
Invisible Losses: The judge was stunned that a company managing liquid petroleum could fail to notice missing stock or cash for years.
Lack of Rosters: Investigators failed to provide payroll or roster evidence to prove the employee was even on the clock during hundreds of the alleged thefts.

“Even in the 80s and 90s, cash systems were better than what I heard about in this case,” Judge Tomlinson remarked. “The point-of-sale software failures are, quite frankly, mind-blowing.”

⚖️ The Verdict: Suspicion vs. Proof

While the Crown alleged a six-figure theft, the only solid evidence produced was CCTV footage from 2020 showing the alleged employee at the register for 21 specific transactions.

Charge Three (Convicted): Relating to the 21 filmed transactions, He was found guilty.
Charges One & Two (Acquitted): Covering the years 2018 and 2019, the judge ruled that while “suspicion is to a high level,” the lack of CCTV or roster data meant he could not be sure beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Sentence:

For the proven theft of $1,800, Kumar was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and ordered to pay full reparation of the $1,800.

📊 Trial Breakdown

Detail	Fact
Total Alleged Theft	Over $100,000
Proven Theft	$1,800
Method	Fake/Legitimate sales followed by cash refunds.
Investigation Gaps	No CCTV for 2018–19; no rosters or payroll provided.
Judge’s Quote	“‘Probably’ is not enough.”