Alister Thorby stole more than $1.8 million in his role as a Covid response lead. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson
Alister Thorby stole more than $1.8 million in his role as a Covid response lead. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson
The day after his contract with two district health boards ended, Alister Thorby tried to board a plane to Brisbane with several friends.
However, police stopped him as he was under suspicion for stealing more than a million dollars from his employers.
Thorby claimed the holiday he was tryingto embark on was with DHB staff and was funded by backpay and a gambling windfall.
But that wasn’t true. Thorby had paid for the flights with a portion of $1.8 million he stole from his employers over five months while in charge of the DHBs’ response to the Covid pandemic in the Lower North Island.
Today, at the Palmerston North District Court, Thorby was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and ordered to pay back the $1.8m he stole.
According to the summary of facts, Thorby was initially facing 12 charges of obtaining by deception for a total of $1.4m, which he pleaded not guilty to, but has since admitted obtaining more than $1.8m.
Thorby worked for the Capital and Coast DHB and the Hutt Valley DHB as the Covid managed isolation and community quarantine service lead for a fixed term period between October 11, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
As part of this role, he submitted invoices for staffing at MIQ facilities as well as security and cleaning services in central Wellington and in Paraparaumu on the Kāpiti Coast.
Thorby, who was 25 years old at the time of the offending, invoiced the two DHBs 17 times over a period of five months in 2022 from three different companies: Moutoa Māori Wardens, Te Awahou Cleaning & Co and Horowhenua Motorhome Rental.
The latter two businesses didn’t actually exist.
Alister Thorby appeared for sentencing at the Palmerston North District Court this afternoon. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson
The work he claimed involved security services and logistical support at various isolation facilities, including the Paraparaumu Motel, the Quest Lambton Hotel and the Terrace Villas.
None of the companies actually did any of the work Thorby claimed they did in his invoices.
The largest of those invoices was for $305,000 for security work at an unspecified location, another for $301,000 – also at an unknown location – was for 24-hour security.
In total, Thorby obtained $1,882,400 for his own benefit from the two DHBs and used some of the funds to buy a house in Foxton, multiple vehicles and to book international travel, such as the holiday he was heading to in Brisbane when he was arrested in 2022.
A fall from grace
Judge Bruce Northwood said Thorby had, during the chaos of the pandemic, drawn upon his connections as a community leader and found himself between Government and the community.
“In your case, you offended intensely over a short period,” he said.
“This was a time of vulnerability; the Government was trusting people with Government funds.”
Judge Northwood said Thorby came up with a plan to exploit that trust and the urgency with which the Government was putting money into the community.
“What you did had elements of sophistication. It required a scheme to be pulled together at short notice.”
Thorby told his probation officer some of the funds he stole were used to buy resources for the Moutoa Māori Wardens, but Judge Northwood said there was no evidence that was true.
A number of references were provided in Thorby’s support, including a request for Judge Northwood from an archbishop to show leniency and simply “smack his hand” and not limit his potential.
Thorby’s lawyer, Ron Mansfield, KC, said it was a sad day for his client.
“He’s a young man who has great promise in contributing to the community.
“The opportunity was presented to him, and he sought to exploit that opportunity.
“It’s a significant fall from grace for a young man who was seen and treated as a leader in the community.”
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
