Lover of port fraudster found guilty
The lover of a senior Ports of Auckland manager turned fraudster will likely join her partner in crime behind bars after the pair stole more than $368,000 of Auckland ratepayers’ money.
Litia Vuniduvu was yesterday found guilty at the Auckland District Court of 50 charges of dishonestly using a document.
She had been caught alongside former Ports of Auckland manager Paul Wayne Bainbridge when an elaborate fake invoice scheme was uncovered. The pair swindled the Auckland Council-owned company out of $368,842.50 over three years.
Hundreds of thousands more of ratepayers’ money was spent on the investigation into the pair and the port’s legal fees.
Vuniduvu, who arrived in New Zealand from Fiji in 2007, met Bainbridge on a dating website in 2012, court documents revealed.
The duo were quickly entangled in a romantic relationship, despite Bainbridge being married, but their lies soon turned to crime.
Bainbridge had been working at the ports as a contractor since 2011 and from July 2012 became the manager of its ICT services.
In the position, he had financial authority for expenditure for several millions of dollars, had the authority
to approve single purchase orders and invoices of up to $100,000, and to hire contractors for up to six months.
In December 2013, the first of several dozens of bogus invoices were sent to Ports of Auckland. They were from Vuniduvu, but under the guise of the name Tia Rokele.
The first invoice claimed a payment for $6400 — it was quickly authorised by Bainbridge and paid into Vuniduvu’s ASB account, which had been opened in the name of a third party.
More fake invoices kept rolling in — all approved by Bainbridge.
Over the next 21 months Bainbridge and Vuniduvu continued their ruse.
The money was spent on clothes, travel and Vuniduvu’s business.
More invoices flooded in — reaching a total of 50 — before the final payment was withheld. The couple had been caught in an audit by Deloitte. When confronted, Bainbridge refused to offer his employer an explanation.
After pleading guilty, Bainbridge was jailed for three years and one month in December 2017 by Judge Brooke Gibson.
Vuniduvu will be sentenced later this year.