Man jailed for hiding loss of $3.1m of iwi Treaty money

A South Taranaki iwi which lost millions of dollars, which one of its members tried to cover up, says they all carry the whakamā, or shame, of what happened.

While Te Whitinga Mark Huirua still has his whakapapa to Ngā Rauru Kītahi, he now finds himself shunned by the iwi.

Huirua, 58, was sentenced in the High Court at Whanganui yesterday to two years and 11 months in jail for charges relating to him losing $3.1 million of iwi money.

Ngā Rauru Kītahi, whose rohe stretches over land between Whanganui and New Plymouth, was one of the earlier iwi to settle Te Tiriti oWaitangi claims.

Their settlement in 2003 came with, among other things, $31m of financial redress.

Huirua was hired to work for Ngā Rauru Kītahi investment company Te Pataka o Rauru, in 2016.

The company ran a largely conservative investment strategy until Huirua arrived.

He was heavily involved in drafting an investment policy which gave him the ability to actively manage investments worth up to $26m.

He then created two companies, of which he was the sole shareholder and director, to deal with those investments.

He named one of them Society One NZ Ltd, purposely mirroring the name of large Australian financial institution Society One to try to avoid suspicion.

He shuffled $3.1m through the companies into various other locations, including a cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange, and his own personal accounts.

He lost $2.6m in trading and spent $500,000 on personal expenses but did not let the iwi know.

He brushed off concerns which cropped up during auditing in July 2019, saying investment reports were delayed due to school holidays, before creating fraudulent investment letters purporting to be from people working in finance.

He continued hiding his tracks as pressure grew, using fake email addresses to send more fraudulent letters falsely confirming investment payments.

It all came tumbling down in November 2019 when he was quizzed at a hui about where money was going. He said he was investing on behalf of the iwi, which he believed he had authority to do, but a run of bad luck had led to the $3.1m in losses.

He said he was willing to work for the iwi at reduced wages to pay off the debt.

Defence lawyer Jamie Waugh expressed to iwi members present in court Huirua’s regret at what occurred.

‘‘I hope in time there can be healing for the iwi.’’

But Huirua did not offend with the intention of depriving the iwi, with most of his crimes done to hide the losses.

‘‘The forgeries occurred once the money was lost, in a naive and perhaps cowardly attempt to hide those losses from the iwi – Mr Huirua’s extended family,’’ Waugh said.

While courts usually heard of offenders being alienated from their culture before offending, Huirua was someone well-connected to his before the offending but had since been placed on the outer.

He had not only lost his career but also his family connections and place within the iwi, Waugh said.

Crown prosecutor Chris Wilkinson-Smith said the iwi felt their reputation had been tarnished by Huirua’s actions.

‘‘The whole iwi have to carry that whakamā,’’ Wilkinson-Smith said.

The fact the money came from a Treaty settlement, designed to recognise and attempt to recompense the iwi for the injustices it suffered, was especially pertinent.

Justice David Gendall said Huirua was not being sentenced for losing the money but for his subsequent actions. ‘‘It is not a crime to make a poor investment decision.’’

But it was hard to reconcile Huirua’s claim he wanted to use the money to benefit the iwi with the fact he kept $500,000 for himself.

The offending was ‘‘sophisticated and persistent deceitful and fraudulent actions’’, the judge said.

‘‘As I see it, Mr Huirua, you knew perfectly well what you were doing.’’

It was relevant he was offered work by the iwi, such as jobs at marae, but he believed they were beneath him.

That led iwi members to consider his offer to work to pay back the losses as simply an attempt to save himself, as he was not willing to get his hands dirty, Justice Gendall said.