Tiare Bishop, a former security guard at Pak’nSave Manukau, was sentenced to community work and supervision on October 13, 2026. Bishop and her colleague, Laki Savelio, systematically extorted cash from shoppers they falsely accused of shoplifting. The pair used their positions at Retail Theft Control Security to intimidate victims into paying illicit fees.
A Pattern of Extortion at Pak’nSave Manukau
Tiare Bishop and Laki Savelio were employed by Retail Theft Control Security (RTC), a firm contracted to handle loss prevention at the Pak’nSave supermarket in Manukau, South Auckland. During January 2025, the pair operated a scheme under the guise of civil recovery.
This process was intended to allow alleged shoplifters to pay $396 to the store to avoid police involvement. Instead, the guards manipulated the system to personally extort money from vulnerable shoppers.
In one instance, a man was detained in a windowless security office for an hour. CCTV footage captured Savelio pointing a toy rifle at the victim and forcing a plastic-wrapped telegraph cucumber against or into
his mouth. The guards eventually coerced the man into handing over $200 in cash, which they split between themselves. In another case, the pair extorted $300 from a man who was worried that a shoplifting accusation would jeopardize his residency visa.
Sentencing of Tiare Bishop
Bishop, who was 19 at the time of the offenses, pleaded guilty to a representative charge of obtaining by deception over $1000 and an additional charge of attempting to obtain by deception. During her sentencing in the Manukau District Court, her defense counsel, Sean Tang, argued that she had sought counseling and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in an effort to return to the workforce.
Judge Lynn Hughes denied Bishop’s request for a discharge without conviction, noting that the defendant had used her position of trust to offend on six occasions.
Bishop had taken part in a “calculated method of deceit for financial gain”.
Judge Lynn Hughes, Manukau District Court
Bishop was sentenced to 250 hours of community work and 12 months of supervision. She was also ordered to pay $650 in reparation. The judge declined Bishop’s attempts to delay the sentencing, stating that there had been sufficient time to prepare for the proceedings.
Outcome for Laki Savelio
Laki Savelio, 24, was sentenced in August 2026 for his role in the scheme. He received six months of home detention and 12 months of post-detention conditions. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $750 to victims not already compensated by the supermarket and is barred from working in the security sector for four years. According to court records, Savelio had claimed he was merely doing his job as instructed by his supervisor.
Crown prosecutor Christian Poland rejected the argument that Bishop was less culpable than Savelio, despite her lesser involvement in the specific incident involving the cucumber. Poland noted that Bishop frequently directed victims to use ATMs to withdraw the cash demanded by the guards.
