Media Release:

21 October 2011

Ming Miu extradited back to New Zealand to face SFO charges

Ming Miu (44), a former IT Systems Manager, appeared in the Auckland District Court today to face fraud charges, after being extradited from Australia.

Mr Miu is facing 72 charges under the Crimes Act, including 23 counts of using a document with intent to defraud and 49 counts of obtaining by deception, following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Mr Miu was employed by McKay Shipping (New Zealand) Limited (“McKay Shipping”) as an IT Systems Manager from April 1999 to December 2006 and was responsible for managing McKay Shipping IT systems.

SFO alleges that Mr Miu, while employed as an IT Manager at McKay Shipping, invoiced for both hardware and software which it did not receive and that these invoices were allegedly falsified or inflated.

The total value of the fraud is estimated to be more than $1.4 million.

Mr Miu previously left for Australia in January 2007 after his employer began an investigation into these issues. The SFO received a complaint in October 2007 and opened a Part II investigation at that time. The charges were laid in December 2009.

Mr Miu is next scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing on Friday 28 October 2011.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

1. Crimes Act offences:
Section 229A (Pre-2003 Amendments): Taking or dealing with certain documents with intent to defraud

Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, with intent to defraud,---

(a) Takes or obtains any document that is capable of being used to
obtain any privilege, benefit, pecuniary advantage, or valuable
consideration; or

(b) Uses or attempts to use any such document for the purpose of
obtaining, for himself or for any other person, any privilege,
benefit, pecuniary advantage, or valuable consideration.

Section 240: Obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception
(1) Every one is guilty of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception who, by any deception and without claim of right,—
(a) obtains ownership or possession of, or control over, any property, or any privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly; or
(b) in incurring any debt or liability, obtains credit; or
(c) induces or causes any other person to deliver over, execute, make, accept, endorse, destroy, or alter any document or thing capable of being used to derive a pecuniary advantage; or
(d) causes loss to any other person.
(2) In this section, deception means—
(a) a false representation, whether oral, documentary, or by conduct, where the person making the representation intends to deceive any other person and—
(i) knows that it is false in a material particular; or
(ii) is reckless as to whether it is false in a material particular; or
(b) an omission to disclose a material particular, with intent to deceive any person, in circumstances where there is a duty to disclose it; or
(c) a fraudulent device, trick, or stratagem used with intent to deceive any person.

2. The Role of SFO:
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was established in 1990 under the Serious Fraud Office Act in response to the collapse of financial markets in New Zealand at that time.

The SFO operates three investigative teams:

• Fraud Detection & Intelligence;
• Financial Markets & Corporate Fraud; and
• Fraud & Corruption.

The SFO operates under two sets of investigative powers.

Part 1 of the SFO Act provides that it may act where the Director “has reason to suspect that an investigation into the affairs of any person may disclose serious or complex fraud.”

Part 2 of the SFO Act provides the SFO with more extensive powers where: “…the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that an offence involving serious or complex fraud may have been committed…”

The SFO’s Statement of Intent 2011-2014 sets out the SFO’s three year strategic goals and performance standards. It is available online at: www.sfo.govt.nz

ENDS

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