16 Dec 2019

Māori King's chief adviser pleads guilty to fraud

From Checkpoint, 5:37 pm on 16 December 2019

The Māori King's former spokesperson is shocked at how much money was fraudulently taken from the Kiingitanga - some of which was used for gastric bypass surgery.

Fifty-six-year-old Te Rangihiroa Whakaruru pleaded guilty to five charges of obtaining by deception, and one charge of supplying false or misleading information in Auckland District Court.

One of the charges was for a gastric bypass in May 2016, that Whakaruru paid over $27,000 of, using Kiingitanga money, by including it in an invoice for the King's own legitimate health costs.

King Tuheitia's former spokesperson Tuku Morgan told RNZ reporter Meriana Johnsen there were long held suspicions about how the bypass was paid for.

However, he says he wasn't prepared for the scale of Te Rangihiroa Whakaruru's fraudulent activities.