Serious Fraud Office director Karen Chang says corruption involving public officials distorts fair decision-making. Photo: Supplied / Serious Fraud Office
A director of a medical equipment company made payments to a former Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) manager to secure contracts.
William MacKenzie was sentenced in the Auckland District Court this week to four months community detention for giving gifts to an agent.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to making payments to the former senior ADHB manager in order to secure contracts to supply medical equipment.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) case said MacKenzie arranged for his company, Alpine Medical Hardware Limited, to make 28 payments totalling more than $170,000 to the manager between 2008 and 2015.
Neither the relationship nor the payments were disclosed to ADHB, despite the manager being under a legal and contractual obligation to do so.
The investigation also found that between January 2001 and June 2007, the ADHB paid Alpine approximately $52,000 per year.
After the senior manager started working at ADHB in 2007, the ADHB paid Alpine approximately $400,000 per year until 2016, the SFO said.
SFO director Karen Chang said corruption involving public officials undermined trust in the government and distorted fair decision-making.
"In this case, public funds intended to support patient care were compromised by an undisclosed financial relationship," she said.
"The SFO is particularly focused on addressing corruption risks that impact health and safety, where such conduct can undermine fair procurement processes and erode public confidence in the integrity of essential services."
The second defendant, the former ADHB manager, has pleaded not guilty to fraud and corruption charges, with a four-week trial commencing 10 August 2026.
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