Media Release

26 July 2016

Charges laid for Auckland International Airport fraud

A woman has appeared in the Auckland District Court today on Crimes Act charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Teremoana Kimiangatau (53) is alleged to have committed fraud against Auckland International Airport Limited to the value of approximately $1.8 million. She faces three representative charges of ‘Obtaining by deception’.

Mrs Kimiangatau has pleaded guilty to all charges.

Mrs Kimiangatau transferred funds from the Auckland International Airport Limited bank account to her own account and she facilitated this by changing client bank account numbers to her own within the airport’s accounting system.

SFO Director, Julie Read, said that risk factors in some environments can give rise to opportunities for this sort of offending. “Checks and balances need to be in place to detect fraud, and most importantly, those checks need to be taken seriously as opposed to treating them as nothing more than a box-ticking exercise. Mrs Kimiangatau’s responsibilities allowed her to pass invoices for authorisation many times and make changes to client information without being challenged.”

Auckland International Airport Limited referred the matter to the SFO in February 2016.

Mrs Kimiangatau will next appear in the Auckland District Court on 9 November 2016.

ENDS

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