Name suppression continues for high-profile prisoner accused of fraud by IRD

The high-profile prisoner will be back in court in October. Photo / File

A high-profile prisoner accused of fraud will continue to have his name suppressed until his lawyer can work through thousands of documents from the Inland Revenue Department.

A bungled transfer of evidence on a USB stick, which the court heard today contains "over 1000 documents", prompted a special suppression order in May this year.

The USB was "lost in transit" between two officers from the IRD and contained information about the case.

The prisoner, who will return to court in October, is accused of committing nearly $120,000 worth of fraud by the IRD and faces 30 charges in the Wellington District Court.

His alleged offending spans parts of 2019 and 2020 and includes 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 IRD has accused him of using applications and documents in the name of multiple companies, including KMG International, NZ Software Consultancy, and ST Exports.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and initially sought to represent himself in court earlier this year.

Over 1000 documents were on the USB, and the man's newly assigned lawyer Michael Bott said they were only accessible after he hired a technology expert to work through the corrupted files.

Bott said he spent his Sunday printing out the documents and said "if I had any hair I would pull it out".

Describing the amount of information as an "avalanche", Bott and his client will return to court to argue for name suppression on October 20.

NZME opposed name suppression to continue for the man, but Judge Andrew Nichols continued the interim order, namely because of the newly assigned Bott and the volume of material to work through.