A husband and wife are accused of ripping off power company Mighty River Power to the tune of about $2 million.
Paul Kenneth Rose (42) appeared in the Auckland District Court today charged with four counts of obtaining by deception and his wife Jane Clare Rose (42) faces two of the same charges. They entered no plea.
The Serious Fraud Office alleges Mr Rose, who was an electrical engineer at the Southdown power station, fraudulently issued invoices of approximately $2 million for goods and services which Mr Rose or companies under his control did not actually provide.
The SFO says the period of alleged offending occurred between June 2005 and December 2012.
It is alleged that Mrs Rose was also involved in the offending over a period of that time.
Mr Rose was employed at the Southdown power station in Penrose, Auckland from November 2001 to December 2012, initially as an instrumentation and electrical technician and then as an electrical engineer.
Part of Mr Rose’s job was to identify what equipment needed to be ordered, or services provided, for the plant to operate.
Mighty River Power became suspicious something was amiss in December 2012, and referred the matter to the police early 2013.
The SFO began its investigation in April last year.
SFO director Julie Read said through a statement: “This investigation resulted from observations and internal checks at Mighty River Power. The company’s actions in referring this matter to the police and the active support for the SFO’s investigation means that we are now in a position to lay charges and prosecute the people involved.”
The defendants must next appear in the Auckland District Court on September 30.