Ministry manager jailed for fraud

AUCKLAND: A former senior manager at the Ministry of Transport who defrauded the government department of more than $700,000 has been sentenced to more than three years in jail.

Joanne Harrison (50) last year admitted using fabricated invoices to fraudulently take $726,000 from ministry accounts she controlled while working as a general manager.

Harrison worked for the ministry from April 2011 to April 2016, when management became suspicious and launched an internal investigation before calling in the Serious Fraud Office.

Passing down a sentence of three years’ and seven months’ jail at the Manukau District Court yesterday, Judge Sanjay Patel said she used taxpayer money to pay bills to three fictitious companies in order to disguise her theft.

He called the offending a ‘‘considerable’’ breach of trust and said the offending went on for over three years.

The money had largely been spent on credit cards and a home loan, he said.

Judge Patel said Harrison was also convicted for forging documents in 2007.

But he said she made efforts at rehabilitation, received counselling in prison and tried to access her KiwiSaver to pay back some of the money.

Lawyers for the Crown did not seek a reparation order, and said it was unclear how much money could be recovered.

Prosecutor Sarah Allen said Harrison hampered efforts to recover assets by turning over part of one property she owned to her husband, Patrick Sharp. The investigation was launched last year while Harrison was in Canada, and she returned voluntarily to face the charges in August.

Her counsel, Nathan Bourke, told the court Harrison was aware of a workplace investigation, but not a criminal one, when she left the country.

She returned of her own accord and gave police her flight details, he said. Harrison hit ‘‘rock bottom’’ after her arrest, but faced her time in prison thus far well, working as a unit librarian, Mr Bourke said.

SFO Director, Julie Read said: ‘‘The SFO gives a priority to cases concerning the loss of public money as this affects not only the government entity concerned but all New Zealanders.’’

Labour transport spokeswoman Sue Moroney said it was worrying Harrison was hired by the ministry despite a previous conviction.

‘‘I question how the Ministry of Transport employed her and then promoted her’’.

— NZN