Upper Hutt College victim of serious fraud

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has laid charges against Donald John Hancox (68) in the Wellington District Court.

The retired Executive Officer from Upper Hutt College first appeared on 30 May facing 10 Crimes Act charges of ‘Obtaining by deception’. Interim name suppression has been in place until today.

Mr Hancox pleaded guilty to all 10 charges today.

The SFO prosecution alleges that between the years 2007 to 2014 during periods of building work at Upper Hutt College, Mr Hancox created and submitted false invoices for goods and services from various entities. Mr Hancox then directed payments of those invoices to bank accounts linked or controlled by him. The alleged offending involved 77 invoices and totalled approximately $375,000.

SFO Director, Julie Read said that it wasn’t until a contractor voiced concerns about an unpaid invoice that the matter came to the school’s attention.

“A common flaw when someone who has control over the approval and payment of invoices and has been committing fraud is that gaps can appear in their ‘system’ when they are not around. In this case, Mr Hancox was away when the concerns were raised and anomalies were uncovered so a specialist financial advisor was called in to work through the school’s financial position. This demonstrates the importance of a segregation of duties in this area.”

Mr Hancox will next appear in the Upper Hutt District Court for sentencing on 13 July.

ENDS

© Scoop Media