Picking up litter would be a fitting punishment for stealing from charities, the father of Rotorua MP Todd McClay was told when he appeared for sentencing on three representative fraud charges.
Former government minister Roger McClay, 65, appeared in Auckland District Court and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service
after admitting defrauding two charities and Parliamentary Services, the administration division of Parliament, of more than $24,000.
McClay admitted the three representative charges after more than 50 other charges were dropped.
In court yesterday, Judge Jan Doogue told McClay it would be entirely fitting if he collected litter and cleaned up graffiti which would be in keeping with the objectives of Keep New Zealand Beautiful, the charity he defrauded of $6339 by making false travel claims when the charity was nearly bankrupt and struggling financially.
The court was told McClay, an MP for 15 years before he became Commissioner for Children, lodged 15 false travel claims when he was chairman of Keep New Zealand Beautiful.
The claims were for mileage for using his own car when he flew and claimed his 90 per cent subsidy on air travel as a former MP.
It was calculated offending, further aggravated by the respect he was held in by a community where he was trusted by many people, Judge Doogue said.
McClay was remorseful and had paid reparations in full.
He would lose his right to subsidised air travel which effectively meant an annual fine of $30,000 for the rest of his life. NZPA
