A nurse who scammed more than $100,000 from her colleagues for gambling has paid all the money back. But, that wasn’t enough to help her escape a conviction. Angelina Nicole Therese Avisado Reyes, a nurse at Waikato District Health Board at the time of her offending, was so persistent with one victim that he ended up transferring $107,000 to her over six months. That victim cashed in investments, withdrew savings, and handed over part of his inheritance from a dead grandparent, after Reyes claimed she had tried to commit suicide because she was so stressed. She spent the money gambling, and during the offending period attended a Taylor Swift concert in Sydney, a Yankees game and Justin Timberlake concert in New York. However, at her sentencing this week, Judge Denise Clark accepted an affidavit from Reyes in which she stated her partner at the time paid for her New York trip, and she wasn’t gambling when she went to the Taylor Swift concert. Defence counsel Raewyn Sporle said Reyes had insight into her offending, had self-referred to the Problem Gambling Foundation, and was now at a “no to low” chance of experiencing gambling harm – but it wasn’t enough to convince the judge she should escape a conviction. “I have looked at this really, really carefully ... but I can’t say that a conviction would be out of all proportion to the gravity of your offending,” Judge Clark told Reyes in the Hamilton District Court as she entered convictions to three charges of obtaining by deception, one of which was representative, after taking $112,000 from her colleagues. ‘I can’t afford a burial plot’ Court documents show the first victim was made aware by her manager in early December 2023 that Reyes’ mother in the Philippines was sick and in hospital. In March 2024, she was told Reyes’ mother had died. When she later saw Reyes and noticed she was crying, they spoke. Later that morning, the victim got a message from Reyes saying her mother had died, she had no money, and couldn’t afford a burial plot in the Philippines for her. After speaking to her husband, the victim agreed to transfer $2000 to Reyes. ‘My father has a brain problem’ Around the end of the month, the second victim saw Reyes and noticed she seemed distracted, and asked if she was all right. Reyes said her mother in the Philippines was sick. Over the next couple of weeks, Reyes said her mother had a heart attack, was hospitalised, then discharged, then later readmitted, and then died. Another time, she said her father had been hospitalised with a “brain problem” and that it was “very serious”. On April 11, the victim got a Facebook message from Reyes saying she was back home, her father was in hospital, and asked if she could borrow some money but would pay her back on payday. When asked how much she needed, Reyes said $3000. ‘The $90,000 heart surgery’ In January 2024, Reyes told the third victim her mother was in hospital and needed $10,000 for heart surgery. She contacted him a week later saying her mother had a heart attack and the cost of the surgery and hospital expenses was now $90,000. She asked for $35,000. The victim cashed in some investments and withdrew some savings totalling $36,000. Reyes promised to pay him back by the end of the year. On February 11, she advised her boss that her mother had died during surgery and told several other colleagues over the following days. Immigration records revealed Reyes flew to Sydney overnight on February 23 to attend a Taylor Swift concert. During this time, she’d also falsely claimed two weeks of bereavement leave. On March 9, Reyes contacted the victim again, saying she needed $1000 that day to pay the funeral director to have her mother’s body released, but said she needed it in e-vouchers, due to sending it to the Philippines. Angelina Reyes defrauded her Waikato DHB colleagues of $112,000 ... and on one occasion she flew to Australia to see Taylor Swift. She was back in touch again on May 6, saying her father now n...