Romeo Kaufusi guilty to stealing calculators and reselling them on Facebook Marketplace
A Kiwi scaffolder caught selling stolen calculators on Facebook Marketplace for cash evaded police for three years, a court has heard.
South East
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A New Zealand man who stole two calculators from his workplace has faced a southeastern court after three years of evading police.
Romeo Kaufusi, 21, pleaded guilty in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on June 14, after he was caught selling two stolen calculators on Facebook Marketplace.
The court heard Kaufusi, aged 18 at the time, had worked at the Hallam outlet of Campion Education in January 2021, when he stole two calculators, valued at $150 each.
During a stocktake, the manager of the store noticed the two missing items, before later seeing Kaufusi post the calculators for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
The manager confronted Kaufusi, who claimed he’d “found the calculators in the bin and decided to sell them”.
He was immediately fired from his position and the manager reported the theft to police.
The court heard investigators were unable to find or make contact with Kaufusi in relation to the calculators until he turned himself into police earlier this year.
Kaufusi told police he’d gotten the idea from “a guy” he knew at the time to sell the calculators.
“I really needed the money, so I took two” he said.
In court on Friday, Kaufusi said he knew his actions were wrong.
“I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” he said.
“I was just a teenager at the time.”
The court heard Kaufusi planned to move to New Zealand in the near future to live and be near his two-year-old son.
Magistrate Christina Windisch put Kaufusi on a 12 month good behaviour bond and fined him $300 without conviction.
