Guilty plea for gambling society theft

11 February 2014

A former sports organisation treasurer has pleaded guilty to 14 charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage and one charge of false accounting.

Henry Joseph Mackie, 52, of Whangarei was the treasurer of Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori Rugby Council Incorporated when he used false and altered documents to obtain gaming machine (pokie) grant funds from the New Zealand Community Trust, Pub Charity and the Oxford Sports Trust.

Regulatory Investigations Manager Gareth Bostock said “we are very pleased that our investigations have led to people being held accountable for money sought on behalf of community groups.

“The Department works to ensure the integrity of gambling in New Zealand, and that means making sure that pokie money, which belongs to the community, is distributed to the community.”

Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori Rugby Council (THOTI) is an amateur sports organisation which applied to the gaming Trusts in late 2010 and 2011 for grants of $45 000 to fund or part fund their annual regional and interregional rugby tournaments.

Mackie was responsible for providing quotes and invoices to support the grant applications as well as paying the bills related to the tournaments.

He was charged with using his scanner, computer and printer to alter genuine quotes and reproduce receipts, invoices and bank statements with intent to deceive.

The caregiver and sickness beneficiary told Internal Affairs he had acted alone and the Board of THOTI had no knowledge of what he had done.

Mackie will be sentenced in the Whangarei District Court on 18 March 2014.