Former ADHB employee accused of taking bribe for medical supplies

A former Auckland District Health Board employee and a company director are both facing Serious Fraud Office charges. Photo / File

A former Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) employee and a company director have been accused of corruption in the procurement and supply of medical equipment.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said today it has charged the ex-ADHB worker with corruptly accepting or obtaining a bribe, obtaining by deception and corrupt use of official information.

They also face two charges under the Secret Commissions Act of acceptance of a gift by an agent.

The director of a medical equipment supplier has been charged with corruption and bribery of an official.

In a statement, the SFO alleges the former ADHB employee "abused their position for their own financial gain while procuring medical equipment".

Court documents obtained by the Herald allege the 55-year-old employee illegally received over $210,000 in payments from the other defendant's company between 2008 and 2016. In addition, the employee was accused of illegally receiving $41,000 from another company between July 2012 and October 2013 and separate illegal gifts of $12,600 in 2012 and $15,000 in 2014.

He is also accused of sending five emails to an overseas-based IT company between 2011 and 2014 that allegedly contained confidential ADHB information intended to give the company an edge in a bid with the organisation.

Both the ex-ADHB employee and 76-year-old company director appeared at the Auckland District Court today and pleaded not guilty.

They were also granted interim name suppression and are due to appear in court again in June.

The SFO said it would not comment further while there were name suppression orders.

An Auckland DHB spokesperson told the Herald the alleged fraud was detected through its internal processes. Appropriate actions, they said, were taken in line with ADHB's fraud policies, which includes reporting findings to the SFO.

The spokesperson said ADHB was a "large and complex organisation" and utilises many levels of fraud control tools and processes running across the organisation.

"Our policies, tools and systems are periodically audited by both internal and external auditors to ensure that our controls are working well and to detect fraudulent activities."

ADHB said it would not be appropriate to provide further comment while the case is before the courts.

However, they said instances of fraud accusations at ADHB were rare and the alleged actions of the former employee "should not reflect on the good work and integrity of the more than 11,000 staff members at Auckland DHB".

Last year in a separate case, another former employee of the ADHB was charged with stealing more than $220,000 from the healthcare organisation.

The woman, who also has interim name suppression, faces four charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and was due to appear in the Auckland District Court this afternoon.