CORRUPTION CHARGES

Two men are in the High Court at Auckland on bribery and corruption charges over roading contracts worth more than $1 million. Stephen James Borlase and Murray John Noone pleaded not guilty last year to charges brought against them by the Serious Fraud Office. Borlase, a former director of Projenz which undertook contract work for Auckland Transport (AT), faces eight charges of corruption or bribery of an official and four charges of obtaining a document for pecuniary advantage. Noone, a former director of transportation at the Rodney District Council (RDC) and later an AT employee, faces six charges of corruption or bribery of an official. A third man, Barrie Kenneth James George was sentenced earlier this month to 10 months home detention for two charges of accepting bribes. George had worked for AT, RDC and its predecessor organisations since 1974, but in 2013 he admitted to AT bosses that he had accepted gratuities worth more than $100,000 over the past eight years.