An Auckland drainlayer will spend six months in prison for bribing a Housing New Zealand official who awarded him nearly $2 million worth of drainage contracts ahead of other competitors.
John Gerard Collins, aged 42, was this morning sentenced in the Auckland District Court on three corruption charges after he gave a Housing New Zealand official, Paul Joseph Graham, $57,000 between 1996 and 1997.
The bribes included cash payments, as well as cheques to help Graham buy a new car, boat and trailer.
In return, Graham awarded almost $1.9 million worth of contracts to various drainage companies Collins ran on a largely uncontested basis.
Judge Avinash Deobhakta acknowledged Graham was "the seducer" to whom Collins fell pray but said the public must be deterred from bribing officials.
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