Sentencing for pair in $16.9m DHB fraud

Two men who defrauded Otago District Health Board of almost $17 million face their day of reckoning in the High Court in Dunedin today.

Michael Swann 47, former chief information officer of the DHB, and Kerry Harford, 48, a Queenstown surveyor, were found guilty of the fraud in December last year.

Both men had denied acting dishonestly or fraudulently.

The Crown said they had used 198 invoices from Sonnford Solutions, a company formed by Harford, to charge the board $16.9 million for IT-related services that were never provided.

The fallout from the case has already been extensive.

Immediately after the end of the trial Health Minister Tony Ryall called for urgent confirmation that systems had been put in place at district health boards throughout the country to prevent fraud.

Mr Ryall said he was determined "that this should be not allowed to happen again".

Last month Mr Ryall sacked DHB chairman Richard Thomson from his role, after holding him accountable for the fraud which took place over six years.

- NZPA