Former Waikato DHB boss Nigel Murray yet to repay money owed

Former Waikato District Health Board chief executive Nigel Murray. Photo / Christine Cornege

A former health board chief executive who resigned over unauthorised spending has not paid back all the money he owes taxpayers and Waikato District Health Board does not know where he is.

However the lawyers acting for Dr Nigel Murray say their client paid back a sum of money to the DHB before an investigation into unexplained spending began in July and is awaiting confirmation of the outstanding amount.

The board accepted Murray's resignation on October 5 "on the basis that he repays all outstanding amounts".

An investigation into Murray's expenses found he spent more than the $25,000 agreed for his relocation from Canada to Hamilton when he took the $560,000-a-year job in July 2014.

The independent inquiry also identified other "unauthorised expenses involving potential financial breaches of the chief executive's obligations".

The Herald understands those breaches involve unauthorised spending of public money on travel and accommodation for two women. The amount owed is less than $50,000 according to the DHB.

It will be a month on Thursday since Murray's resignation was announced and no more money has been repaid, a DHB spokeswoman has confirmed.

"He has not fully reimbursed the costs and we are currently liaising with his lawyer to recover the costs."

The spokeswoman would not divulge who Murray's lawyer is due to "privacy reasons" but the Herald sent questions to the lawyer acting for Murray.

Calum Cartwright of Peter Cullen Law said when the matter was brought to Murray's attention "prior to the commencement of the investigation by the DHB, Dr Murray deposited a sum of money with the DHB to cover this matter".

Cartwright said the DHB was in the process of finalising any amount outstanding.

"Dr Murray currently awaits a final reconciliation of the amounts involved, so he can make good if there are any further payments required."

The DHB said it does not have contact details for Murray and does not know whether he is still in Hamilton.

Cartwright would not say if he knew whether his client was still in New Zealand.

Murray owns a house in the exclusive rural suburb of Tamahere but his wife previously confirmed that he does not live there with her.

The Herald understands two mobile phones Murray used before his resignation were handed back to the DHB during the two-month investigation. The phones were understood to have been reset, deleting all communications.

Murray is a New Zealander who grew up in Walton, a small farming area in the Waikato, after his American doctor father took up work at Waikato Hospital.

Murray trained in the United States and the Herald understands the women identified in the investigation were Canadian.

The DHB spokeswoman said she was unaware of a timeframe for Murray to pay back the money. Murray received no payout when he resigned.

His resignation ended the investigation because it could not be completed "without the active input from the person under investigation", a spokeswoman said.

"We are confident we can identify personal expenditure and will follow appropriate processes to recover costs.

"And we see no benefit in funding the completion when we have certainty that there will be no further incidences as Dr Murray is no longer in the employ of the DHB."

Meanwhile a briefing on the findings of the investigation, called for by the Ministry of Health after the Herald's revelations that two women were identified in the report, is expected to be given by board chairman Bob Simcock this week.