NZ Post staff fired after investigations into parcel theft, three in hospital after Albany axe attack and the All Whites abandon match with Qatar mid-game in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / New Zealand Herald
Private investigators in the pay of NZ Post have found more than a dozen rotten apples among its staff, the Herald can reveal.
Details obtained via the Official Information Act show that since October 2018, NZ Post has had a contract with Paragon NZ, a security consultancy offering private investigations,surveillance services and vetting.
The security firm investigates “internal and external” theft affecting the postal service, NZ Post said.
In the past four years, 14 NZ Post employees have been subject to disciplinary action for mail theft.
NZ Post would not release the value of the contract, citing commercial sensitivity.
“Using such security consultants ensures that a thorough and independent investigation to collect the facts of the matter is undertaken,” its statement said.
“This process also enables NZ Post to better understand and address any system or systemic concerns which may have enabled the behaviour.
“It also provides capacity and additional resources for standard investigations, leaving the NZ Post team to supervise these and work on more strategic matters.”
After investigations, Paragon NZ security consultants present their findings to the head of security and compliance for NZ Post, its regional security advisers and relevant branch and depot managers.
NZ Post's East Tamaki distribution centre. Photo / Michael Craig
“If theft is determined as substantiated, they also present their findings to the NZ Police.
“For transparency purposes, any of the above parties could and do hold Paragon NZ accountable for an appropriate level of investigation.”
McQuilter, Paragon’s co-owner and managing director, was a police officer in Glasgow before he came to New Zealand in 1983 and established a successful and high-profile career as a private investigator.
Paragon general manager Wayne Kiely, who also has a shareholding in the company and is billed as its lead investigator, is a former NZ police detective.
He previously worked as a security manager at New Zealand Post.
Paragon’s website said most of its corporate work involves the investigation of dishonesty offending for its clients.
“We work within the law and, spanning 36 years, can boast of never having lost a case or failed to solve offending for our clients,” its website said.
“That said, a private investigator has an entirely different agenda from the police and yes … often we do need to be feral to catch these crooks, something we are not scared to admit.”
Another post on its website shows Paragon uses the same sort of investigative techniques employed by police detectives.
“Our client is our first priority and recovering losses is often high on our list of objectives.
“We obtain factual information, physical, documentary and digital evidence as well as obtaining direct evidential statements from witnesses, suspects and offenders.”
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
