Scammer gave big sums to church
Victims tell court of ‘catastrophic consequences’ of man’s faking of his engineering qualifications
For nearly six years, Jon Hall fraudulently signed more than 1900 documents purporting to be a more qualified engineer than he was.
Using profits from his work, he donated significant sums to his Taupō-based church.
But his actions had “catastrophic” consequences for hundreds of people.
Last week, he appeared in the Rotorua District Court to face his victims and be sentenced.
Word quickly spread that Jonathan Beau Hall was the man to go to for a quick and cheap engineering report if you were building a house.
He pumped out the work, making about $2.4 million for his sole-charge Taupō-based company over six years.
But the 47-year-old was committing fraud. He would sign the names of more qualified colleagues, making out his work had been certified.
The fact it wasn’t meant there were hundreds of buildings throughout 39 district councils in New Zealand that were given sign-off when they weren’t legally compliant.
It’s being described as potentially the biggest building industry scam in New Zealand.
Now Hall has been sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment after pleading guilty to 112 charges of forgery; 47 being representative charges, meaning the offending happened more than once.
In sentencing Hall, Judge Gregg Hollister-Jones said 946 properties were impacted. He estimated the damage caused would be in the millions of dollars. “The scale of your offending is huge . . . the biggest scale of forgery by a professional person that I am aware of.”
He said all 946 properties would have had to have a notification about the questionable engineering added to the properties’ Land Information Memorandum (Lim) reports.
“Getting an adverse land information report is a seriously stressful event.”
He said there would be serious insurance implications as the properties didn’t have a valid certificate of compliance.
Quoting from pre-sentence reports, Judge Hollister-Jones said Hall was “introverted and shy”. He charged about a third of what he should for the reports — between $1600 to $2500, when others charged about $8000.
Hall estimated he benefited by more than $550,000.
Judge Hollister-Jones said Hall donated about $300,000 to charities, including about $275,000 to his church, Abundant Church in Taupō.
“You became entrapped to gain inter-personal reward to please clients.”
The offending, from 2017 to 2023, saw 1927 reports fraudulently signed by Hall for mainly residential properties in New Zealand through his company, Kodiak Consulting Ltd. More than half of the offending was around Taupō but other areas included Tauranga, O¯pōtiki, Rotorua and Auckland.
The judge said Hall was a licensed chartered member technologist of Engineering New Zealand. The documents he signed needed a chartered professional engineer, deemed a licensed building practitioner and legally protected under the Building Act.
If a document was signed by a chartered professional engineer, building consent authorities, such as councils, have reasonable grounds to believe the work complies with the building code and a consent and Code of Compliance can be issued.
The forgery was picked up after a Rotorua Lakes Council staff member contacted a certified engineer, whose signature had been forged, to discuss the project. The engineer had no recollection of the project. The signature on the certified document was found to not bear any resemblance to the engineer’s.
“That is how your forgeries were uncovered,” Judge Hollister-Jones said.
Wellington police were contacted and 39 councils had to do a “complete review” of all of his projects. Some were found to be completed to a satisfactory standard while others required a complete redesign.
What the Crown says
Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon told Judge HollisterJones Hall was qualified to do some of the work but not all.
He could do drawings, for example, but needed to get those drawings certified by a qualified engineer.
Gordon said Hall started off forging the documents and went on to get them certified but eventually stopped getting them certified. He would forge the signature of the engineer he previously used instead.
When the first qualified engineer he originally used retired, Hall sought out someone else whom he eventually started forging the signature of.
Gordon told the judge there was no other case of similar magnitude the Crown could find to compare case law.
She said there was continued risk to public safety as there could be people unaware they were living in homes that did not meet the
The scale of your offending is huge . . . It is the biggest scale of forgery by a professional person that I am aware of.
Judge Gregg Hollister-Jones
required building standards.
Gordon said it significantly affected the reputations of the two engineers whose signatures were forged, mentioning one had left New Zealand because of the “constant barrage” he was getting from victims.
She said he had provided a victim impact statement to the court, saying the loss to him personally had been more than $300,000.
What the defence says
Defence lawyer Matthew Ward-Johnson noted Hall’s parents, uncle and three friends, including his church pastor, supported him in court.
Ward-Johnson said his client accepted a prison term was warranted but if the judge reached a sentence of two years or less, home detention should be considered.
He said Hall was remorseful, offered to pay $85,000 in reparation and was at a low risk, or in his words “no risk”, of reoffending.
Ward-Johnson said Hall didn’t gain financially from his offending and in fact donated a majority to charity — including $275,000 to his church.
He said the offer of reparation was his client’s last remaining funds.
How the victims were impacted
The Taupō District Council’s building manager, Dean Southey, said 650 buildings in its area were affected.
The extra work had cost ratepayers at least $500,000.
He said councils relied on the integrity and professionalism of certified engineers and impacts had been seen for councils throughout New Zealand, building owners and other professional engineers.
Southey said stop work orders had to be put on many homes, resulting in impacts for contractors, delays and costly remedial work.
He said the total effect was not yet known because more substandard work could come to light in future years.
Southey said he had spent many hours with upset property owners, including elderly home owners, who feared the costs involved.
He said there was great stress as notifications needed to be put on properties’ Lim reports warning they were related to fraudulent engineering, which could significant affect property prices and their ability to sell their homes.
One of the victims, Martin Atkins, told the court he had to pay at least $40,000 more to engage professionals to fix his work. It had caused mental and emotional harm, stress and anxiety.
He urged Judge HollisterJones to impose a sentence of imprisonment, saying Hall’s offending had resulted in “catastrophic consequences”.
Taupō man Mike Timmer said Hall’s crimes impacted the home they were building.
He said he was retired and was worried if his life savings would go on the refix.
The refix cost him $32,000 but the stress effects were large.
Judge Hollister-Jones read from a victim impact statement of a 92-year-old man who said he and his wife suffered stress because they were unable to get insurance.
The judge said a 65-year-old widow had written in her victim impact statement that she had to redo the entire eastern side of her home, costing $40,000.
She said in her statement she suffered extreme stress, was unable to sleep and was constantly worried.
Engineering New Zealand responds
Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau told the Rotorua Daily Post it welcomed the sentencing of Hall.
Chief executive Dr Richard Templer said the title of chartered professional engineer was a protected title reserved for engineers whose competency had been assessed and Hall didn’t have the same level of skill and qualification.
Templer said Hall’s actions cast doubt on the robustness of people’s homes.
“The situation has created considerable stress for property owners and a huge burden for many local councils,” he said.
Templer, who also provided a victim impact statement to the court, said in his statement that the range of concerns was likely “extensive, varying from potentially minor or administrative concerns to more serious concerns such as the robustness of a building’s foundations”.
He said in the statement that identifying the unique ramifications on each property would continue to occupy many councils and engineers for some time yet, even before considering remediation.