Former Parengarenga 3G trustee sentenced

A former trustee of Parengarenga 3G (P3G) has been sentenced to 12 months’ home detention and ordered to pay $5000 reparation for defrauding the trust.

Margaret Dixon, 59, was sentenced in the Auckland District Court last week after earlier pleading guilty to three charges of theft by person in a special relationship, brought by the Serious Fraud Office.

The court heard that she had intentionally failed to deal with $934,270 of the trust’s funds in accordance with the P3G Trust Order. With the alleged involvement of her brother, Stephen Henare, 60, she facilitated the transfer of the funds into various other bank accounts, including personal accounts and family trusts.

Henare, who the SFO alleges was the instigator of the offending, has denied six charges of theft by person in a special relationship. He is also charged with the theft of an additional $149,627, and has denied another charge, of attempting to pervert the course of justice by allegedly providing false information to the Ma¯ori Land Court in early 2013 regarding the financial position of P3G.

All charges against both defendants arose from their roles as trustees of P3G, which manages a 512ha block of Ma¯ori land, and the commercial forest that covers the property, on the Aupo¯uri Peninsula. Both have been removed as trustees.

SFO director Julie Read said while Dixon’s cooperation with the SFO had resulted in a reduction in her sentence, her offending was serious.

“She was kaitiaki of a forest block that had more than 400 beneficial owners. She was required to deal with the property in accordance with the Parengarenga 3G Trust Order. Her fraudulent activity has jeopardised an asset that was meant to benefit generations to come.”

About $1.1 million was transferred from the Ma¯ori Trustee to P3G Trust bank accounts in 2012, primarily for the management of the land and the forest. A further $54,480 was obtained from the sale of carbon credits.