IRD bungle on high profile prisoner's court case leads to special suppression order

The prisoner was granted name suppression at a hearing in the Wellington District Court this morning. Photo / File

A bungle while transferring evidence for a high-profile prisoner's court case has prompted a special suppression order in case a member of the public stumbles across the missing information.

A USB stick containing information about the case was "lost in transit" between two officers from the Inland Revenue Department, Judge Jan Kelly said in the Wellington District Court this morning.

"As of yet, it has not been recovered.

"The USB would be capable of access by anyone who recovered it."

The contents would create "a real risk" to the man's fair trial rights.

A prosecutor for IRD applied in court today for the information on the stick to be suppressed in order to protect the defendant's fair trial rights.

Judge Kelly made an order suppressing publication of the contents of the USB should anybody find it.

The man, who has interim name suppression, is back in court accused of committing nearly $120,000 worth of fraud.

The man faces 30 fraud-related charges in the Wellington District Court, with the offending spanning parts of 2019 and 2020, charging documents show.

The charges include dishonestly using an application for a small business cashflow loan, GST returns and income tax return documents to obtain a pecuniary advantage.

The amounts allegedly obtained total $119,104.31.

The Inland Revenue Department has accused him of using applications and documents in the name of multiple companies, including KMG International, NZ Software Consultancy, and ST Exports.

The maximum penalty the charges carry is seven years' imprisonment.

The man, who is self-represented, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and elected trial by jury.

He has applied for name suppression, and the application has been granted on an interim basis until the matter can be fully argued.

That hearing will happen in July.

The Herald has opposed name suppression.