$1.2 million fraud alleged at Waitangi National Trust

Wallace Tamamotu Te Ahuru, who has been accused of defrauding $1.2 million from the Waitangi National Trust.

A former senior employee of the Waitangi National Trust, which looks after the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, has been charged by the Serious Fraud Office after around $1.2 million of trust money went missing.

Wallace Tamamotu Te Ahuru, 30, of Kerikeri faced two charges of obtaining by deception and seven charges of using forged documents when he appeared in the Manukau District Court on Tuesday.

He was not required to enter a plea to the charges during his appearance. The Serious Fraud Office said Te Ahuru is alleged to have defrauded the Waitangi National Trust Group of about $1.2m while he was employed as its Corporate Services Manager.

He was responsible for the financial administration of the trust. SFO said Te Ahuru is believed to have acted alone in the alleged offending.

Te Ahuru, who returned from Australia recently, has been remanded on bail to reappear at the Manukau District Court on September 4.

The trust became aware of irregularities in 2016, and passed the matter to the SFO in January this year. The irregularities related to transactions over a 12-month period beginning in 2016 and had been picked up by staff analyses of accounts.

According to the financial statements filed to the Charities Register, in the year to June 2016 the Waitangi National Trust earned revenue of $11.5m, including $5.6m in government grants, and had $28.5m in assets, mainly land and buildings.

Te Ahuru was schooled in Rotorua and, after showing early aptitude for accounting, was employed by Rotorua Museum while he completed his qualifications. When the museum's chief executive, Greg McManus, was appointed to head the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in 2012, Te Ahuru came north with him.

Te Ahuru was a financial manager at the Treaty Grounds and enjoyed a high degree of trust. He was an active member of Kerikeri Rotary Club and the local branch of the National Party.

He was a noted character who was rarely seen without suit and tie, and would wear a pith helmet to Waitangi Day commemorations.

When he resigned from the trust he said he had been employed as a hedge fund manager overseas.