SFO raids trust’s HQ

The Serious Fraud Office has swooped on the headquarters of a trust tasked with cleaning up the Waikato River, as part of its investigation into the organisation’s chairman.

An SFO spokesperson confirmed the agency used a warrant to search the offices of the Te Arawa River Iwi Trist (Tarit) in Rotorua on Thursday.

No further comment would be made.

The search was linked to an inquiry into the financial activities of Tarit chairman Roger Pikia.

Tarit has received $10 million of taxpayers’ money, with the promise of $20m more over 20 years, to care for its section of the Waikato River.

Chief executive Eugene Berryman-Kamp confirmed the SFO arrived on Thursday.

‘‘They were looking for information pertaining to one of their investigations, they provided us with a list, and we supplied it to them.

‘‘My board instruction is full cooperation.’’

Berryman-Kamp said Pikia remained chairman of Tarit, and chaired a meeting of the board on Monday.

Several Te Arawa elders have called for Pikia to stand down while the SFO inquiry is underway. Pikia could not be reached for comment.

He has stepped down voluntarily from his roles as deputy chair and chair of the investment committee of the Waikato River Authority – there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing in relation to that body.

Pikia is a prominent figure in Maoridom who works as a busi- ness consultant and adviser to the Maori King and sits on several iwi boards. He denies any wrongdoing. Last year it was revealed that $775,000 belonging to Tarit had been invested in Ka Ora Ltd, a health food company of which Pikia is a director and previous shareholder.

And it was revealed that the small Tahu Whaoa iwi, which Pikia also chairs, had covered the $2.6m debts of a failing Tongan forestry company and had agreed to pay a further $3.5m in return for control of the firm.

Stuff reported in November that Pikia used a Tarit credit card while in Tonga, running up bills at a top restaurant and a ‘‘ladies and gentlemen’’ club.

In 2014, he travelled to Hawaii with the Maori King’s son, Whatumoana Paki, and sent an $18,000 invoice for the trip to Tarit.

A group of Te Arawa elders took their concerns to the Government and KPMG began a forensic audit.

Pikia claims the audit has cleared him.

Invoices and bank statements show that Pikia used a Tarit credit card while in Tonga in 2015, racking up $1500 at the Seaview restaurant and the Ladies and Gentlemen Club in Nuku’alofa.

Upon his return, Pikia stayed for a week at the Novotel Hotel at Auckland airport, notching up $1600 for accommodation and $435 for food, according to the invoice, which was sent to Tarit for payment.

Tarit’s staff are understood to have questioned the expenditure as the organisation had no business in Tonga.

Pikia said at the time there was a mistake by his travel agent but no further explanation was forthcoming.