Former Ministry of Transport employee arrested for fraud
Media Release
8 August
2016
Former Ministry of Transport
employee arrested for fraud
A defendant in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation appeared at the Manukau District Court on Friday 5 August after returning to New Zealand.
Joanne Harrison (50) was arrested at Auckland International Airport on Friday and charged with three Crimes Act charges of ‘Dishonestly taking or using a document’.
Ms Harrison was employed as a General Manager at the Ministry of Transport from April 2011 until leaving in 2016. Following questions raised by the Ministry’s management team, an internal investigation found that suspicious payments had been made to various entities and the matter was referred to the SFO.
The SFO alleges that the Ministry of Transport paid approximately $726,000 to entities associated with Ms Harrison.
Ms Harrison did not enter a plea and will next appear at the Manukau District Court on 16 August 2016.
ENDS
Note to
editors
Background to
investigation
Joanne Harrison worked for the
Ministry of Transport from April 2011 until leaving in 2016.
Her role included responsibility for change, people and
development; communication and external relations;
administration and ministerial support; knowledge management
and information and the shares services programme
management.
Crimes Act offences
Section 228
Dishonestly taking or using document
(1) Every
one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7
years who, with intent to obtain any property, service,
pecuniary advantage, or valuable consideration,—
(a)
dishonestly and without claim of right, takes or obtains any
document; or
(b) dishonestly and without claim of right,
uses or attempts to use any document.
(2) Every person is
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who,
without reasonable excuse, sells, transfers, or otherwise
makes available any document knowing that—
(a) the
document was, dishonestly and without claim of right, taken,
obtained, or used; and
(b) the document was dealt with in
the manner specified in paragraph (a) with intent to obtain
any property, service, pecuniary advantage, or valuable
consideration.
About the SFO
The 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’s role is the detection,
investigation and prosecution of serious or complex
financial crime. The SFO’s focus is on investigating and
prosecuting criminal cases that will have a real effect
on:
• business and investor confidence in our financial
markets and economy
• public confidence in our justice
system and public service
• New Zealand’s
international business reputation.
The SFO operates three operational teams; the Evaluation and Intelligence team along with two investigative teams.
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…”
In considering whether a matter involves
serious or complex fraud, the Director may, among other
things, have regard to:
• the suspected nature and
consequences of the fraud and/or;
• the suspected scale
of the fraud and/or;
• the legal, factual and
evidential complexity of the matter and/or;
• any
relevant public interest considerations.
The SFO’s
Annual Report 2015 sets out its achievements for the past
year, while the Statement of Intent 2014-2018 sets out the
SFO’s strategic goals and performance standards. Both are
available online at www.sfo.govt.nz