Shyamal Shah, a 26-year-old engineer at Auckland Council’s Watercare, siphoned $1.039 million using fake invoices and has pleaded guilty to obtaining by deception, facing a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. This incident marks one of New Zealand’s largest public sector frauds as the country experiences a decline in its global corruption ranking, with warnings from a transparency agency about a lack of effective responses to increasing corruption. Watercare is pursuing full reparations and has implemented stronger procurement controls to prevent future fraud.
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Media Insider: NZME’s bitter board battle at end – Steven Joyce to be chair, Jim Grenon to be director, alongside three existing board members
The contentious struggle for the NZME board has concluded with former National Party MP Steven Joyce set to become chair, alongside activist shareholder Jim Grenon, whose three other nominees were withdrawn. The new board, pending a shareholder vote on June 3, will initially include Joyce, Grenon, and existing members Carol Campbell, Sussan Turner, and Guy Horrocks, with technology expert Bowen Pan joining afterward. An editorial board will also be established as part of this restructuring....
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