Fake-raffle man lying low

By BRIDGET CARTER

A man at the centre of an Internal Affairs investigation into illegal lotteries owes his family thousands of dollars.

Samson Pehi has two warrants out for his arrest and a history of bad debts.

He is believed to be living in Auckland.

Internal Affairs Department spokesman Vince Cholewa said the authorities had been unable to find Pehi even though they had his cellphone number.

"The difficulty is pinning him down in one particular place."

The Herald also found Pehi elusive, after being told that his team was selling raffle tickets in Onehunga, Royal Oak and Ponsonby.

One ticket seller approached in Onehunga Mall, who said her name was Leonie, said the raffles were to raise money for the unemployed.

"You can support us in our work by buying a ticket," she said.

Another seller, Dorothy, said the organiser, "Kelly Pehi", was at the Royal Oak Mall, but he could not be found.

Later, a caller to the Herald said the sellers had reached Ponsonby. Another caller said she had phoned the police and Internal Affairs after seeing the team at work in Onehunga. She had bought a raffle ticket three months ago, which had turned out to be worthless.

Internal Affairs has already sent out a warning about a trust Pehi set up a year ago that claimed to help struggling Maori.

In November, a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show up in court in Christchurch on charges of running an illegal lottery, Mr Cholewa said.

A month later, he was back on the police wanted list after he did not show up in the Porirua District Court to face car conversion charges. He has been on the run ever since.

Internal Affairs discovered he was back running an illegal lottery last week after a phone call from Whangarei from someone who had bought a raffle ticket with his name on it and suspected the prize was not genuine.

Tickets cost $3 and were sold for a Maori training organisation called Te Ao Hou Whanaungatanga, meaning "relationship with the modernworld".

But the organisation did not exist and the prizes were not usually drawn, Mr Cholewa said.

This week, the department received dozens of calls from people saying they had bought tickets.

Mr Cholewa said authorities had since discovered that Pehi was running the operation with two others - Kelly Pehi and Dorothy Steele, or Dorothy Kemp

The department knew of the bogus lottery operating in Whangarei and New Plymouth. Tickets had also been sold in Auckland, Nelson and possibly Rotorua and Tauranga.

They were sold by unemployed people who received a slice of the profits, but it was not known whether they knew the tickets were bogus.

Samson Pehi's cellphone was switched off when the Herald called. A message said the mailbox was full.

But the Herald spoke to his brother, Wally Pehi, who said Samson went under many different names, including Colenzo Hamuera. He had used his father's name, Sam Pehi, to gain credit.

Wally Pehi said his brother still owed him thousands of dollars from a time when he stayed with him years ago. Wally had not seen him since.

"He is pretty well known," said Wally Pehi. "I have isolated myself from what he does, so we don't see each other."

- additional reporting: Wayne Thompson