The damning report comes amid a rise in fraud complaints, particularly cybercrime. Photo / file
The damning report comes amid a rise in fraud complaints, particularly cybercrime. Photo / file
A major new report has found police are frequently failing victims of fraud.
The report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) was produced following a review of police investigative practices around fraud complaints, launched in response to a slew of complaints by victims over how police handled their cases.
Authority chair Judge Colin Doherty issued a stinging condemnation of how police handle fraud complaints in a statement released with the report, saying the needs of victims are often not met.
“The Authority has found that the police response to fraud falls well short of victims’ expectations and is failing to meet the challenges that the present fraud landscape poses,” Judge Doherty said.
Police needed a “fundamental overhaul” of their processes around fraud complaints, he said.
Police Minister Chris Hipkins said he hadn’t yet read the report but felt New Zealanders tended to be complacent about the threat of fraud.
“The fact that we have low levels of fraud in New Zealand isn’t grounds for complacency, in fact, that almost certainly means that some fraud is not being detected and actioned, so as a country we need to take fraud more seriously,” he said.
Hipkins wouldn’t give his view on the report until he’d read it and received a response from police.
He maintained his confidence in Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, saying police would take the criticisms “on the chin”.
The review came after 52 complaints to the police watchdog between 2018 and 2020 by victims unhappy with how their fraud complaints were handled.
Seven specific complaints about police handling of fraud were outlined in the report.
All seven complaints were upheld by the Authority.
Among the complaints is a case where an officer tried to talk a $150,000 fraud victim out of lodging a criminal complaint.
When the victim did make a complaint, police tried to get the victim to gather their own evidence, before closing the case.
Judge Doherty said frauds were too often regarded by police as civil disputes or minor offences rather than serious criminal matters.
“They are not receiving the priority they deserve, and the needs of victims are too often not being met.”
In response to the damning report, police issued a prepared statement saying it would consider the Authority’s recommendations alongside its own internal review of fraud procedures, and look for areas where it could improve.
Judge Colin Doherty, chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“We accept that we could do more to meet victims’ expectations around investigation and resolution of fraud,” the police statement said.
The report’s release comes amid a steady rise in fraud complaints in New Zealand.
The Authority said its investigation into the seven complaints had uncovered a range of deficiencies in police processes for handling fraud.
They included “inadequate processes” for receiving and prioritising fraud investigations, inconsistent investigation processes, a lack of focus on victims and inadequate expertise and training.
“It is clear to us that police need a fundamental overhaul of their processes for recording and investigating fraud”, Judge Doherty said.
“We have made a number of proposals for change to that end.”
The proposals include implementing training for front counter and call centre staff who receive fraud complaints and establishing dedicated regional fraud units to triage complaints.
The report also recommends police implement “nationally consistent recording and investigation processes” and improve support for fraud victims.
The bungled five-year fraud case
Among the seven upheld complaints outlined in the report is the case of a man who went to Kerikeri police station in 2017 to report that one of his company’s co-directors had defrauded the company of about $150,000.
The fraud had been going on for years.
When the man, dubbed “Mr X” by the Authority, reported the offending, the officer at the station talked him out of recording the matter as a crime and encouraged the victim to try negotiate with the offender to recover the funds himself, the report said.
The offender arranged with the co-directors she would repay the funds but allegedly only repaid $25,000 of the $150,000.
A year later, in late 2018, Mr X went back to police to seek a formal investigation and prosecution of the fraudster.
It was not until March 2019 that the case was assigned to an officer, who the report said appeared to regard the victims as responsible for gathering evidence of the fraud. The officer noted in her case file that one of the victims “has a lot of work to do before there is sufficient evidence to prove this in court”.
“We understand she did not regard it as the responsibility of police to gather any of the evidence themselves,” the report said.
She emailed the wife of Mr X asking her to make inquiries with creditors to obtain evidence for the fraud case, something the report said she felt uncomfortable doing.
On March 25, 2019, the officer made another note on her case file saying she had been reassigned to an investigation relating to the Christchurch mosque attacks.
“She stated that there was insufficient evidence on the file for the witnesses to be interviewed and that the file would be closed due to the competing operational requirements.”
A few months later the Authority, after receiving a complaint about the handling of the fraud report, asked police to reopen the investigation and review their decision-making.
Police apologised to Mr X for their handling of the initial fraud report.
“Despite this, Police are still investigating this report, with the complainants’ statements having only been completed in June 2022,” the report said.
“Police have said that this is in part due to competing demands and also due to the delay before the complainants provided the evidence that police had requested them to obtain.”
