Name suppression lifted in marae fraud case

The Court of Appeal yesterday rejected a bid to suppress the name of a former gang chief and marae director who was convicted and sentenced for stealing up to $56,000 in lottery money.

On Wednesday, in the Auckland District Court, sports manager Wynyard Walter Anania, aged 45, was sentenced to a suspended 13-month jail term and nine months' periodic detention and ordered to pay back $20,000.

His lawyer, Anthony Rogers, said yesterday that he had lodged appeals against the conviction and sentence.

Anania was accused of using his position as executive director at a Mt Wellington marae to obtain $56,250 from the Lottery Grants Board in December 1993.

It was meant to pay for sprucing up the meeting house and dining room. Instead, the prosecution said Anania spent much of the Kokiri Ki Maungarei Marae cash at hotels, service stations and a menswear store.

Anania was alleged to have obtained the money without the knowledge of other people at the marae and placed it in a separate bank account. Most of it was gone within six weeks.

The district court was shown evidence of cash cheques being issued and other money spent on an outing in Northland.

The court heard that Anania had been a leader of the Headhunters gang in the 1970s. He later moved into community projects.

Labour MP John Tamihere and prominent Maori educationist Dr Pita Sharples testified on Anania's character at the trial. Anania had worked closely with Mr Tamihere during the MP's election campaign. Dr Sharples told the court that Anania had turned his life around since his Headhunters days and the pair had worked together to place 85 gang members in community schemes.

"He has established quite a bit of credibility in Maoridom," Dr Sharples said.

"Maori working in the community get quite confused about boundaries and it is not uncommon for the Peter/Paul thing to happen."

The jury found Anania guilty of misappropriating some of the $56,250, but did not say how much.

Summing up, Judge Cecilie Rushton said that kaumatua helped Anania to cover his tracks when the scam was uncovered, and that $39,069 was unaccounted for. It was possible that some of the money was spent appropriately.

"It may be that other people should have been brought to account in this matter that have not been," she said. "This had an effect on a flourishing marae that was doing very good work in the community and which is now effectively defunct."

On Thursday, Act leader Richard Prebble referred to a court case involving Mr Tamihere during a fiery debate in Parliament, and later on the Holmes television show.