Alleged Mighty River fraudsters plead not guilty

General view of Whakamaru Dam, which is one of the hydro dams located on the Waikato River owned by Mighty River Power. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Alan Gibson

A former Mighty River Power engineer accused of a $2 million fraud at the company has pleaded not guilty this morning to charges he faces.

The Serious Fraud Office earlier this month laid four charges against Paul Kenneth Rose and two against Jane Clare Rose for obtaining by deception.

Paul Rose worked at MRP's Penrose gas-fired power station as an electrical engineer until December 2012 and it was part of his role to identify what equipment was required to be ordered or services provided for that plant, the SFO alleged earlier this month.

Rose, or companies under his control, allegedly issued invoices of approximately $2 million to MRP for "goods those companies sometimes didn't provide or services that were instead performed by Mr Rose himself or others", the SFO said.

Paul Rose appeared in the Auckland District Court this morning, where his lawyer Rosemary Thomson said her client was pleading not guilty.

Thomson indicated her client wanted a jury trial.

The SFO said earlier this month that Jane Rose was also involved for some time in the alleged offending, which according to the agency took place between June 2005 and December 2012.

A SFO spokeswoman said that the Roses, both 42, were husband and wife - at least at the time of alleged offending.

Jane Rose, represented in court this morning by Shane Kilian, turned up separately to her co-accused and also entered not-guilty pleas.

Kilian said his client also wanted a jury trial and the pair are next due to come to court on November 26.

MRP chief financial officer William Meek said when the charges were laid that they related to a historic matter and that any financial impact was absorbed into past accounts.

The company has changed its procurement and inventory management process to minimise the "risk of recurrence".

Any decisions around recovery options would be made by the company following the SFO's court action, Meek said earlier this month.