Katikati Tech Store Owner Loses $74K in Uninsured Burglary

The owner of Katikati technology repair shop iFixed Ltd has been left reeling after thieves broke in overnight on 8 November and stole roughly $74,000 worth of stock — at the very moment he had no insurance cover. Chamara Punchihewage, known locally as Chama, said security cameras captured three offenders entering the second-floor shop on Cherry Court, Main Rd at 1.58am on Saturday, taking almost everything within 10 minutes.

The timing could hardly have been worse. Chama had recently opened a new iFixed branch in Waihi on 3 November and had switched insurance providers, cancelling his old policy before the new one was signed. "This period we cannot make a claim — so basically, I'm lost," he said. The building's damage was covered by the building's own insurance, but all stolen stock was uninsured.

The Sri Lankan, who has lived in New Zealand for 16 years and in Katikati for more than eight, said the break-in came just two months after intruders entered his home while his family slept. With a two-year-old daughter, he admitted the family is now questioning their future in the country. Customers' devices stored in a safe were not taken. Chama has passed information and security footage to Katikati Police, who executed search warrants at three Katikati addresses the following Tuesday in connection with the burglary.

A nearby beauty clinic, Dreamers on Jocelyn St, was also targeted the same night — its owner Suzanne Bullivan confirmed offenders smashed a ranch slider and took the till, though no money was in it. It was the fifth break-in the clinic has experienced in just over two years. Western Bay of Plenty district councillor Rodney Joyce noted that more than 90 monitored CCTV cameras already operate around the town, and questioned how much additional coverage would add given that both businesses already had security footage of the offenders.

Originally published in Katikati News (Sun Media).