Former CEO of fraser health being probed
Murray reimbursed for numerous unauthorized personal trips
The former CEO of Fraser Health, who in 2014 resigned under threat of dismissal and took a similar job in New Zealand, will be investigated by that country’s serious fraud office over more than NZ$120,608 ($112,427) in “unjustified” travel and hotel expense claims.
The action against Dr. Nigel Murray, who worked in B.C. for seven years, was announced Wednesday by an inquiry in New Zealand. In a damning, 57-page report, Murray is found to have billed, and been reimbursed by, the Waikato District Health Board for numerous unauthorized, personal trips to places like Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Montreal and Moncton. He often cited “professional development” as the purpose of the trips when filing expense claims.
The report said Murray was hired in New Zealand without due diligence, as key leaders like the chair of the Fraser Health board were not contacted. If they had been, according to the New Zealand report, recruiters would have learned about problems with Murray ’s leadership style and that would have explained why, in May 2014, he was being pushed out of Fraser Health.
The report was released the same week that a forensic audit on Murray’s spending while at Fraser Health was made public. It revealed Murray’s profligate spending when he worked in B.C. starting in 2007.
Unlike the situation in New Zealand, however, there is no suggestion Murray should repay anything here.
High-profile Vancouver businessman Wynne Powell, who was brought in by then health minister Terry Lake to take over as chair of the Fraser Health board in 2014, said in an interview Wednesday that one of the first things he did was commission the forensic audit by KPMG so he could learn if everyone, including the CEO, was “playing by the rule book.”
“Were there issues with some of Nigel Murray’s expenses? Some minor ones. Did he protect himself ? Yes. But it wasn’t in the realm of what they are talking about in New Zealand.
“What we found out through the process was that we had to improve transparency and tighten up the rule book,” Powell said.
After the KPMG report, rules were changed so health region executives could no longer file expenses for both mileage and car allowances.
Both reports show a surprising lack of rigour in B.C. and New Zealand in scrutinizing expense claims, many of which were paid without receipts. Fraser Health board chairman Jim Sinclair said expenses are no longer paid without receipts. And expenses of the CEO can now be viewed by the public online.
While New Zealand authorities have collected about three-quarters of the money Murray is said to owe, Fraser Health has not sought any repayment because, as spokeswoman Jacqueline Blackwell said, “every expense incurred by the previous CEO, including expenses related to relocation, would have been approved by the then sitting board chair.”
Murray moved to B.C. from New Zealand and his relocation costs were $103,502, much higher than the $40,000 Fraser Health anticipated.
Once he moved back to New Zealand, Murray racked up $218,209 in travel hotel and related expenses while he headed one of 20 district health boards from July 2014 to October 2017, when he resigned because of the expenses controversy.
The investigation found that there were 129 items for travel; 59 of them did not meet standards for appropriate authorization and 45 were unjustified. Indeed, $74,265.04 of the expenses he billed the health district were for personal purposes, according to the report. So far, Murray has repaid $54,831.98, but $19,434.06 remains in dispute.
“The investigation report shows Dr. Murray spent public monies on private travel and made claims for the reimbursement of expenses he was not entitled to claim for. As the chief executive, he should have known better,” said State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes, whose agency ordered the New Zealand report.
“It is not the role of this inquiry to determine whether there was any criminal wrongdoing. This is why I have referred the investigation report to the serious fraud office,” said Hughes.
“The inquiry found Dr. Murray ’s conduct fell well short of what is required of a state sector leader,” said Hughes.