New Zealand bank manager robbed own bank

October 13, 2006

Mark Andrew Scott, 39-years-old, and his partner, Vanessa Ada Scott, 27-years-old, both pleaded guilty near the end of the hearing to a charge of aggravated robbery and two charges of kidnapping after June 20 when they tried to rob the bank Mark Scott had been managing for a year.

Mark Scott, former US marine and veteran of the Gulf War, was the manager of the BNZ (Bank of New Zealand) Wellsford bank in Auckland.

During the pre-trial hearing, or more correctly depositions hearing, at North Shore, Auckland's district court, Mark Scott asked about the NYC plane crash, and then criticizing the in-efficiency of the court system and then alleged that police stole from him. The police had in fact taken a silver pin from his jacket which was used as evidence. The couple could face a maximum of fourteen years in jail.

When Mark Scott went to work early he left the side door open so his partner and two other men, Richard Simon Cowell and Lewis Blackwood-Manukau, could gain entrance into the bank. During the robbery all female employees were tied up. Mark Scott, however, was not bound until he gave NZ$136,000 in cash to the robbers. Deborah Poa, employee for BNZ, tried to escape but was attacked in the face but she did manage to gain attention of a passerby who contacted the police. She told the court that she did not trust Mark Scott. "[There was] just something about him. One minute he would be all calm ... the next, all aggressive." The two men who helped with the robbery were found outside the bank and the couple were formally charged that day by police. To date $2,860 is yet to be recovered and $370 had already been used on groceries. The couple had some of the money found at their home by police.

After being calm all morning the couple returned to the court upset and then started shouting and swearing at the justices of the peace when they learned that the hearing would adjourn part heard and postponed until December. "Two months here, two months there ... all that bull ... you know?" Mark Scott said. On Tuesday the robbers and the Scotts will appear in court.