KEY POINTS:
"If you follow the money, you'll catch the crooks."
Grant Liddell, director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), could be offering a job description for the organisation that has pursued white-collar criminals for 18 years.
Or, it could be an epitaph for a Government department which, in its present incarnation at least, is in its final days.
According to the Government's plan, in just over two months the SFO will cease to exist, subsumed into a super crime-fighting agency with its primary focus on organised crime. The SFO will become the Financial Crimes Unit.
Its special powers to compel suspects to give evidence will be curtailed, and it will become just another part of the police.
The biggest change in its history comes when, judging by recent headlines, the need for its services has never been more pressing. The SFO has successfully prosecuted a string of high-profile cases in the past few months, and Liddell says they are pursuing a number of mortgage fraud cases worth "tens of millions of dollars".
The epidemic of company collapses is also keeping the office busy. Investigators are "assessing" the Blue Chip debacle and a report is due in two weeks. The SFO is also two months into an investigation of the Green Acres scam.
Just this week, former Turners accountant Christopher Sue was jailed for 4 1/2 years for stealing$3 million of the company's money to finance a gambling habit. The conviction came after another SFO investigation.
"It's a rich variety," says Liddell.
When he says the SFO has "a good view of the fraud landscape", you know he's not talking about the autumnal trees and the AUT building framed in his office window on Auckland's Mayoral Dr.
The youthful-looking 50-year-old, who worked at the Crown Law Office for more than 10 years, has held the directorship for only six months. Did he have second thoughts about accepting the job after the restructuring was announced by Police Minister Annette King last year?
"No second thoughts," he says, with the trace of a smile. Despite his short tenure, he is fiercely protective of the organisation he runs.
He is dismissive of the accusation that the SFO only takes cases it can win. "Cherry picking? There is no substance to that. Cases are taken on their merits. We don't back off cases we don't think we will win. Ironically, because we have a high success rate, we are accused of cherry picking."
Whatever his true feelings about the absorption of the SFO into the police, Liddell is too much of a lawyer to air them publicly.
He is optimistic about the future, he says. It will be "business as usual" for him and his team of 33 forensic accountants, investigators and lawyers.
Liddell said Police Commissioner Howard Broad visited this week to explain a little more about the new structure.
"The Commissioner sees us as the flagship of the new agency," says Liddell. "That's a vote of confidence."
Much has been said about a potential "clash of cultures" in the new agency between the number-crunchers of the SFO and the close-knit and competitive police force.
"I can't say what police culture is like," says Liddell diplomatically. "This place has developed a culture of its own by virtue of being small, located here [in Auckland] and with a national focus. It will be a challenge to ensure that is carried forward."
Besides, he says, they already work together. Recently the SFO was called in to help after a raid on a drug house and the seizure of about $125,000 in cash. Up to 58 companies were associated with the criminal activities and the SFO's expertise was needed to follow the paper trail.
Liddell admits the shake-up has been unsettling for staff and some have resigned.
But he believes the place is in "good shape" to lend its weight to the Government's declared battle against organised crime.
He says fraud basically comes down to "attempts by the greedy to prey on the gullible" and his team of paper-chasing experts will continue to catch them when they can.
