KEY POINTS:
Professional boxer Sean Sullivan is the state housing tenant accused of subletting his tax- payer-subsidised home for a $77-a-week profit. Once ranked in the world's top 10 welterweight boxers, Sullivan is at the centre of an investigation and could be prosecuted for renting out the Mangere state home.
According to Housing NZ documents, Sullivan, who owns a holiday home in the Bay of Islands, paid $133 a week for the house - despite being ineligible for Housing NZ Corporation help. The same papers show that he charged a couple $210 a week rent.
Sullivan's identity came to light through documents obtained by National MP Phil Heatley under the Official Information Act. They refer to the tenant who was subletting the property as being a professional boxer, and make reference to the "Mundine fight" in relation to a 2003 investigation.
Sullivan, once ranked the No 7 welterweight boxer in the world, is one of the only New Zealanders to have fought Mundine, losing to the Australian in 2003 and again in 2004. The Herald on Sunday confirmed the information through another source.
Sullivan refused to return Herald on Sunday phone calls. A boxing associate of Sullivan called back to say: "He told me to tell you to get f***ed."
The matter embarrassed Housing Minister Chris Carter after he told Parliament on Wednesday Crown prosecutors were investigating the case. The Crown Law Office was not given the details until Thurs- day. Carter then had to admit that Housing New Zealand found out 10 months ago that a prosecution was warranted - and has now asked why no prosecution was taken then.
Heatley has called the case a "blatant subletting rort" and said he was most concerned about the possibility that someone in the corporation got Sullivan a state house he wasn't entitled to.
The Housing NZ documents show that Sullivan had been previously investigated for undeclared income and was found to have hidden assets and given false information to get the state house. He was later found to be working, not on the domestic purposes benefit and had a partner. This would have stopped him from being given a state house.
The documents show the couple living in the house paid $210 a week to Sullivan.
They discovered they were involved in the scheme when they applied for a state house - and were told they were living in one.
Sullivan now owes Housing NZ $32,650. The couple renting the home began to receive arrears notices in the mail from Housing NZ threatening to end the tenancy. "We had been diligently paying the $210 per week and he was not paying HZNC," the tenant told the investigators.
The documents say a neighbour told private investigators that Sullivan "knew someone in Housing that [was] how he got the place".
Those allegations needed to be investigated seriously, Heatley said, and that the tenant needed to be "dragged in" for questioning.
Housing New Zealand had been half-hearted in its attempts to uncover any insider, said Heatley.
"A genuinely needy family have been locked out of a state month for 18 months, while someone else is playing games with taxpayer assets."
The 10-month delay in reporting the case to the Crown Solicitor was "completely unacceptable" Carter said yesterday.
He had written to the corporation's board asking the chairman to report back by the end of the month and for a full report on the allegations.
"I want the tenancy manager who dealt with the case to be interviewed. I want to know exactly what happened," Carter said. Attempts to question the "tenant who defrauded us" had been unsuccessful.
"We've being trying to make contact with him but he just won't talk." The matter had been referred to the Crown Law office.
HNZ Statistics
Housing New Zealand's rental homes are allocated to people on the basis of need, rather than how long they have been on the waiting list.
Priority is given to people who can't find and stay in housing they can afford, or that is safe and large enough for them.
To be eligible, people must have an income that is less than one and a half times the rate of superannuation. For single people (living alone) an income of $21,610 a year, and for a couple (both qualify) an income $33,246 a year.
As at February 28, 2007 there were 10,463 people on the waiting list. Of them, 122 were A priority (severe housing need), 3602 were B priority (significant housing need), 4029 were C priority (moderate housing need), 2710 were D priority (lower level housing need).
