Fifa Project Manager Probed
Football update
Auckland: A consultancy company contracted to manage a project at the centre of a Fifa scandal has triggered a Companies Office investigation for using a dead man’s name to file its annual return. Auckland company 3 Dimension Consultants was appointed by Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to design and project manage the OFC Home of Football development at Ngahue Reserve in east Auckland.
The project, funded by Fifa and its Pacific football organisation OFC, is millions of dollars over budget and only half complete despite construction starting in 2013. A forensic audit commissioned by Fifa recently triggered an investigation into “potential irregularities” relating to construction of the development. The audit was also followed by the sudden resignation of OFC president David Chung.
3 Dimension Consultants’ sole shareholder and director Ken Dentice – also a Harcourts real estate agent in Wellington – said he was not involved in 3 Dimension Consultants while it was working on the Home of Football.
Speaking to Stuff from Thailand on April 10, Dentice said the company had not been involved in the project for about two years. 3 Dimension Consultants’ chief executive at the time was Sataya Pillay, who had since died, Dentice said.
A death notice, published in the New Zealand Herald, said a Sataya Pillay died “peacefully” on September 20, 2016. He was 56 years old. Documents on the New Zealand Companies Office show Pillay’s name was used to file 3 Dimension Consultants’ annual return in March 2017.
A Companies Office spokesman said it was investigating the matter.
It appeared that the person who filed the annual return for 3 Dimension Consultants had used an account held in the name of Pillay to present the document, the spokesman said.