Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust on Pukuatua St. Photo / Andrew Warner
A Rotorua social services provider that looks after the homeless and released prisoners failed to correctly declare it was paying its top management for a rental property, the Department of Corrections says.
The property in Rotorua's Fenton Park was used to house paroled murderer Nika Abraham for three months when he was released in July this year having served 20 years behind bars.
Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust verbally told regional Department of Corrections staff its chief executive and general manager - Israel and Teresa Hawkins - were the owners of the transitional housing property but neither the trust nor regional staff declared the potential conflict of interest, a requirement under its contract terms.
Abraham lived in the Hawkins' rental property for three months as part of a prison reintegration programme Wera is contracted to deliver.
Abraham was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 13 years for the strangulation and murder of Lower Hutt woman Kate Alkema in 2002.
He was moved out of the Fenton Park home at the end of October - the same time neighbours discovered who Abraham was. A neighbour, who spoke to the Rotorua Daily Post on the condition of anonymity, said she discovered the home was used as a "half-way house" under the management of Wera and private ownership of the Hawkinses.
Corrections reintegration and housing general manager Rebecca Barson told the Rotorua Daily Post Abraham was not moved as a result of public concerns about safety.
She said Corrections had spoken with Wera and the department's staff to remedy the situation about the potential conflict of interest "immediately".
"Our current policy states that the contracted provider must inform us in writing of a potential conflict of interest. Wera informed regional office staff verbally and at that time it was determined that the purchase of the property is at Wera's discretion, with our role being to assess the suitability of the accommodation and services provided."
She said the regional staff did not request the potential conflict of interest be declared in writing from Wera.
"This should not have happened ... As an organisation, we are absolutely committed to operating with transparency and we would expect a formal conflict of interest to have been declared. We have issued a reminder to all our contracted providers and staff about the requirement to formally declare any potential conflicts of interest."
The Rotorua Daily Post asked Israel Hawkins why the trust did not follow the proper process and declare the potential conflict of interest in writing.
In response, Hawkins said he was unsure why Corrections was not informed by their employees.
"I was clear in my communication to them as to the ownership of the property."
Hawkins said he and his wife had also informed Wera's board they owned the house and any decisions relating to it were recorded in minutes and decided in committee, without the Hawkinses being a part of any decisions.
"Our trust (Wera) offers a place to stay for people who need support while they get their lives together after serving time. We have a property available for use that meets all the requirements of landlords of rental properties."
Barson said it was usual practice that once a conflict of interest was declared in writing, it would meet with the provider to discuss, agree and record in writing whether it could be managed and, if so, how it could be managed.
Barson said Corrections had spoken to Wera and requested it now declare the potential conflict of interest in writing.
When asked if what happened would have been deemed a conflict of interest, Barson said:
"As we are currently in the first stages of this process and are yet to establish all of the facts it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
An audit by BDO Rotorua of the trust's finances for the year ending June 2021 showed the trust paid the Hawkinses $27,560 - up from $15,600 in the 2020 financial year - in rent for the three-bedroom Fenton Park home.
It is one of two homes the trust rents to house released prisoners. The other is in Tokoroa and is not owned by Israel and Teresa Hawkins.
The audit showed Israel Hawkins was paid a salary package of $180,833 and Teresa Hawkins was paid a salary of $85,009.
The trust also paid Wera Consultants Ltd, of which Israel and Teresa Hawkins are shareholders, $67,062, in cadetship expenses.
In response to questions, Israel Hawkins said in a written statement that Corrections covered rent based on market rates determined by an independent rental assessor that included upkeep and maintenance of the house.
Hawkins said the salaries were set by the board biannually using data from independent agency Strategic Pay that provided remuneration benchmarking comparing other organisations and roles of a similar size.
In response to questions about the consultancy payments, Hawkins said: "Cadetships are to support and further develop current staff and management to succeed into higher levels of management within their organisation, our job is to train and develop trainees with qualifications that would support their promotion."
The Wera trust was paid $1.85 million in Government contracts in the 2021 financial year. That included just over $1m by the Ministry of Social Development and $237,000 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for housing support services for the homeless.
It was paid $425,315 by the Department of Corrections to deliver reintegration services to Māori offenders including helping them to get housing and jobs and ensuring they complied with prison release conditions. It also had a $102,000 contract with Te Puni Kōkiri.
The audit said the trust had 111 housing referrals and 75 successfully progressed out of emergency accommodation and into rentals or boarding homes.
Barson said it had contracted Wera since 2015 and it had "consistently achieved positive outcomes for the people using their service".
The audit, carried out by BDO Rotorua Ltd, said the "performance report presented fairly", this included its service performance and financial position.
When Nika Abraham stood trial for murder, the Crown said his motive was sexually motivated.
Lower Hutt woman Kate Alkema's clothes were found nearly pulled off completely but Abraham always denied that was the case, later telling police he was inspired by the Friday The 13th horror movies and wanted to hear a woman scream.
Aged 21 at the time, he followed, then strangled the 36-year-old from behind with a strap from a carry bag. He recanted his earlier admissions to police and wrote fake letters to himself in prison, claiming they were from the "real killer".
It was later revealed Abraham had earlier on separate occasions followed two other women.
His parole was refused several times but he was finally released in July with the board's decision noting he had a "very good history at his rehabilitation programmes".
He had a strong work ethic and had taken a number of leadership roles within the prison, the decision said.
His parole conditions included that he could not live in Auckland, Wellington, Masterton or Upper Hutt.
So he was moved to Rotorua.
The board said the reintegration programme Abraham was aligned with was one it was familiar with and was supported by Corrections.
"While the standard reintegration period was three months, the board stressed in its view it would be important for Abraham to take his time and a longer period would be necessary as he had been in prison a long time."
The decision noted he did not have a broad support network where he would be released and developing a strong support network would be important.
A Fenton Park resident told the Rotorua Daily Post they were horrified to learn Abraham had been put in the property, which was closely connected to two other properties.
However, Abraham was moved from the property not long after neighbours made enquiries with Wera about who owned the property and why neighbours had not been told.
Barson said special conditions for offenders included electronic monitoring, exclusion zones, not contacting victims or family members of victims and taking part in treatment and rehabilitation.
She said Abraham had been well engaged with community corrections and had not breached any conditions.
"Public safety is our absolute priority and we will continue to monitor and manage this offender extremely closely."
She said about 15,000 people needed to be released from prison each year and Corrections was committed to doing everything it could to ensure each person was safely reintegrated into the community and had suitable accommodation.
Finding accommodation was one of Corrections' most significant challenges, she said.
"The reality is, without supported accommodation, people would be homeless and living on the streets or in cars. This would present an unacceptable safety risk to communities."
Barson said Corrections acknowledged the location of offenders could be a concern for communities and it worked hard to balance the concern with its obligation to manage people safely.
Current policy requires community notification for child-sex offenders but also provided for the notification of some people subject to extended supervision orders, she said.
"There are no child sex offenders residing at this address (Fenton Park) as it was assessed as unsuitable for people with this type of offending history."
Following public concerns nationwide, Corrections' notification policy was currently being reviewed.
Corrections was unable to tell the Rotorua Daily Post how many prisoners had been released to Rotorua housing in recent years within the required deadline.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked Israel Hawkins why the trust had not notified residents about Abraham and he said it was a question that needed to be addressed by Corrections staff.
However, Hawkins said Wera had a "wonderful and honest hui" with four Fenton Park neighbours last week which resulted in them agreeing to put in place safety and security measures. He said they were yet to connect with two more neighbours near the house.
"They left informed and safer having engaged with us."
•Rotorua Daily Post series Fighting for Rotorua looks into the city's housing crisis, motel misery and how it could be better. It is part of NZME's editorial project, The New New Zealand: Rebuilding Better.
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