The Maori king’s advisor is arrested at his home after accusing the Kīngitanga movement of the stomach operation

A close adviser to the Maori king who stole from Waikato-Tainui to pay for a stomach stapling operation has been sentenced to house arrest.

Te Rangihiroa Whakaruru, King Te Arikinui Tūheitia’s private secretary, appeared in Auckland District Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for fraud that included tricking people into paying for his operation.

Shelter used the monarch’s poor health to hide his fraud.

He previously admitted to six charges, including obtaining by deception and supplying false information to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) during a formal interview.

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The 57-year-old served as CEO and CEO of the Ururangi Trust, the administrative arm of Kīngitanga.

Judge Ema Aitken said Whakaruru used her position and mana to trick the iwi from December 2015 to December 2016.

He said the fraud was not out of necessity but out of greed.

Judge Aitken took time out of Whakaruru’s sentencing for his first guilty pleas and his willingness to pay reparations.

Judge Aitken said she found the decision difficult, but decided on a sentence of one year of home detention and 300 hours of community service.

Earlier, OFS prosecutor Todd Simmonds told the court that the fraud had caused a loss of $ 110,788 to the iwi and the Kīngitanga.

The iwi spent another $ 30,000 on legal fees, as the Charities Commission and then the SFO mounted the investigations.

Simmonds said a jail sentence was needed to convict the offender and hold Whakaruru accountable.

But it wasn’t just the financial cost. Simmonds said the Whakaruru fraud had also damaged the mana and reputations of the iwi and Kīngitanga.

He said there was a “serious breach of trust” at the center of Whakaruru’s crime, which was motivated by greed and a misplaced sense of entitlement.

Simmonds also noted a complete lack of remorse on the part of Whakaruru, who told a probation officer that he continued to deny taking money for personal gain.

While Whakaruru had written a letter of apology to the King, he told the King that he had pleaded guilty for the purpose of “preventing others from paying unwanted attention.”

Simmonds also questioned Whakaruru’s promise to pay $ 90,000 in repairs for the sale of his Waikato property.

However, Simmonds submitted documents to the Court to show that the property had already been sold and questioned why a full repair could not be made.

The sale figure was not released in court, however the Waikato District Council records that the property has a capital value of $ 395,000.

“Mr. Whakaruru has indeed stolen from the iwi and then tried, unsuccessfully, to cover his tracks by lying to the OFS.”

Whakaruru’s lawyer, Guyon Foley, told the court that his client had served the Kīngitanga movement for many years. He asked Judge Aitken to impose a house arrest sentence so that his client can start working at the Waipareira Trust to work with young people.

He said that Whakaruru had pleaded guilty on his first appearance, had a clean record, and was deeply ashamed of what he had done.

“This is not a large-scale fraud. This is Mr. Whakaruru taking money for himself, which I accept, and he accepts, it is wrong and must be punished. “

In connection with the repair payments and sale of Whakaruru’s property, Foley said his client owned two houses. One had been sold and, after the debts were paid, could make $ 90,000 in repair payments.

Judge Aitken asked Simmonds if he accepted that explanation.

Simmonds said the court was expected to accept Whakaruru’s word that it would pay full reparation when Whalkaruru admitted to fraud. He said the OFS did not accept his guarantees.

After a brief postponement, Simmonds reported that Whakaruru had named a second property that he half owned. The property did not have a home and there were attempts to sell it in January 2018.

Foley later confirmed that the second property was being sold privately and that the agents were not on the list.

In a statement, OFS director Julie Read said Whakaruru abused her position of trust.

“The criminal and selfish actions of the accused have compromised the reputation of the Maori king’s office. Active deception by the OFS during an investigation is a serious crime and resulted in the expenditure of additional public funds to solve this case.

Basic stomach fraud

The Trust is funded by Waikato-Tainui, but you can also request additional funds.

In 2016, Whakaruru told his executive assistant that he had stomach cancer and needed surgery.

She booked him a series of appointments at Mercy Private Hospital in Auckland.

But Whakaruru did not have cancer. Instead, he was booked to undergo gastric bypass at a cost of more than $ 27,000.

In the months leading up to his surgery, Whakaruru sent a confidential memorandum to senior Waikato-Tainui members, requesting additional funding of $ 200,000 for the King’s Ururangi Trust.

He said the funds were to pay for King Tūheitia’s surgery and medical treatment.

After her surgery, Whakaruru received a bill from Mercy Hospital, describing that her procedure included a “gastric bypass.”

Whakaruru approached the chief executive of the hospital to change the details of the bill. The second invoice did not record your name. Changes were also made to the details of the procedure.

He finally sent an invoice to the Ururangi Trust recording the procedure as “Other – Medical Services and Treatments: King Tuheitia.”

That invoice, along with others, was sent to iwi leaders, who then authorized payment of the funds to Ascot Hospital.

Using a complex forgery, Whakaruru managed to trick the leaders of iwi and Ururangi Trust into paying for her gastric bypass.

The king’s ill health is used as a cover

In November 2016, King Tūheitia was admitted to hospital for surgery.

The king’s son, Korotangi Paki, donated a kidney to aid his father in his battle with diabetes and cancer.

The procedure was performed under the public health system, which means that there was no charge for the king, Ururangi Trust or the iwi leadership.

Once again, Whakaruru wrote an internal memo for “His Eyes Only,” requesting an additional $ 81,000 for the king’s medical expenses.

He promised that invoices would be sent to prove the expense.

The following month, Whakaruru attempted to create invoices on behalf of Mercy Hospital.

When he couldn’t do that, he enlisted the help of a member of the Ururangi Trust staff.

The bills, totaling more than $ 80,000, contained details of medical procedures and claimed to be related to the king and his son. They were printed on Mercy Hospital letterhead.

Whakaruru also claimed that the king had already paid two of the bills and asked to be reimbursed.

When the money was paid, he transferred funds to his personal account.

Whakaruru also admitted to one count of misleading the Serious Fraud Office.

During interviews, he told investigators that he had asked his assistant to transfer money from his accounts to the trust to pay for his gastric bypass operation.

No request was ever made and consequently no funds were transferred.

The Tainui tribe has 52,000 members with 68 marae and 33 hapu.