Director Sentenced To 9 Months Home Detention For Invoice Fraud

The Director of ACK Contractors Limited, Colin Fitzgibbon, has been sentenced to nine months home detention and ordered to pay reparation of $83,563.65 by the Christchurch District Court on Thursday 31 October 2024 for falsifying records and dishonestly incurring debts.

In 2018, Mr Fitzgibbon’s company entered into an invoice purchasing contract with Canterbury Invoice Finance Limited. That company trading as FIFO Capital.

At the beginning of 2020, ACK Contractors Limited held a contract to undertake work on the Christchurch Northern Corridor Alliance (CNC Alliance) project. This was a roading project involving the construction of a new four-lane motorway from south of the Waimakariri River, connecting to Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Drive and Cranford Streets in Christchurch.

Also in early 2020, ACK Contractors Limited were sub-contracted to HEB Construction Limited, undertaking road maintenance for the Christchurch City Council.

Between January and March 2020, Mr Fitzgibbon provided fraudulent invoices valued at $668,392.95 to FIFO Capital. As a result, ACK Contractors Limited was advanced $535,665.05.

On 28 April 2020, receivers were appointed for ACK Contractors Limited. During the receivership, invoicing issues were detected when the receivers sought to recover the purported debts from the CNC Alliance and HEB Construction Limited. At this time, both companies advised the receivers that the invoices were fraudulent, and no monies were owed to ACK Contractors Limited.

Vanessa Cook, National Manager of Criminal Proceeds Integrity & Enforcement says this was moderately sophisticated offending where Mr Fitzgibbon generated invoices based on the company’s forecasted data for the month ahead.

“He sold the invoices to FIFO Capital so that his company could get cash faster than it would have received if it had waited for monthly payments made by the client companies,” Ms Cook said.

“The offending was pre-meditated. While Mr Fitzgibbon intended to complete the work, he was aware that there was a risk of causing loss.”

At the sentencing, Judge GM Lynch took into account Mr Fitzgibbon’s remorse and preparedness to participate in restorative justice, his previous good character, steps he had taken to ensure reparation was paid including selling his family home, his cooperation during the investigation and early plea.

Complaints about breaches of the Companies Act can be raised online via: Make a complaint | Companies Office

Notes:

· The Criminal Proceeds Integrity and Enforcement Team (CPIE) is a business unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

· The Integrity and Enforcement Team is part of CPIE and investigates complaints on behalf of the Registrar of Companies and the Official Assignee of New Zealand. Where appropriate they prosecute individuals who breach the Companies and/or Insolvency Acts. The team also prepare submissions seeking the banning of individuals who are eligible for prohibition under s 385 of the Companies Act. Full details of MBIE’s Compliance and Enforcement guidelines are available here.

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