Auckland corruption charges proved —ring any bells? #South

“The extensive provision of benefits to staff at all levels of their teams resulted in a culture where corruption flourished and was normalised, with no questions asked. There was very little chance of disgruntled or principled employees speaking out as everyone was being ‘looked after’ or was compromised.” –Brian Dickey, SFO prosecutor

### NZ Herald Fri, 9 Dec 2016 at 10:05 a.m.
Council manager guilty of majority of corruption charges
By Matt Nippert
A roading contractor and a council manager have been found guilty of corruption in a case exposing what the prosecution called a “culture of corruption” among Auckland council staff administering tens of millions of dollars in roading contracts. Justice Sally Fitzgerald delivered her verdict this in the High Court at Auckland this morning in the long-running trial of former Auckland Transport senior manager Murray Noone and roading engineer contractor Stephen Borlase. Noone was found guilty on six charges of receiving $1.2 million in bribes from Borlase. Borlase, in turn, was found guilty on eight charges of offering bribes to Noone and other council staff. Borlase was found not guilty on four charges of dishonestly using a document to allegedly inflate invoices to council. The corrupt relationship ran from 2006 until 2012, from Noone worked at Rodney District Council, continuing when he joined Auckland Transport following the supercity merger.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Deloitte report pending —Public Notice at ODT | Facebook entry

ODT 9.12.16 (page 20)

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█ Facebook: Richard Healey

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Wed, 7 Dec 2016
ODT: Delta, Aurora report for release by Monday
A report on under-fire Dunedin City Council-owned companies Delta and Aurora is expected to be made public by Monday. Mayor Dave Cull said he hoped the report could be released before that day, following a non-public council discussion on the issue that lasted well over an hour yesterday. Dunedin City Holdings Ltd director Keith Cooper faced a grilling from councillors when he gave them a “progress report” on an investigation by consultant Deloitte into the companies. Cont/

Sat, 3 Dec 2016
ODT: Report discussion behind closed doors
Discussion of a Deloitte report on troubled council-owned companies Aurora and Delta on Tuesday will be behind closed doors, and it is uncertain when they will make it into the public arena. Mayor Dave Cull said the report was not finished yet, despite predictions of an early December completion date. It will be discussed by the Dunedin City Council on Tuesday in a non-public session. Mr Cull said the Dunedin City Holdings Ltd board got a progress report on the investigation yesterday. The board would pass on that report at the council meeting on Tuesday. The agenda for the meeting noted discussion of the report would be in a non-public section of the meeting as “the withholding of the information is necessary to protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably  to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information”. As well, the withholding of the information was necessary to enable the council to “carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities”. Cont/

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.