The Serious Fraud Office has opened a second investigation linked to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) infrastructure contracts.
It comes after a preliminary integrity report, revealed by The Post last week, identified more than $5.1 million in unapproved or contested contract variations on a major Taranaki highway project.
The Post has learned the SFO opened the probe in January, months after an internal NZTA review examined concerns surrounding the $84 million Te Ara Tūtohu (Waitara to Bell Block) route improvements project.
Last year, a separate SFO investigation was opened into allegations involving the contractor alliance responsible for maintaining Auckland’s motorway network.
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Both agencies refused to confirm the latest investigation.
“NZTA can neither confirm nor deny whether the information requested exists. To do so would itself be likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law. If such information were held, it would be withheld under section 6(c) of the Official Information Act 1982,” a spokesperson said.
NZTA has previously confirmed issues relating to the Taranaki project were subject to an “active investigation”.
A spokesperson for the SFO said: “Unless the fact of a complaint or investigation is in the public domain already, the SFO does not routinely confirm or deny whether it has received a complaint or is undertaking an investigation, to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences.”
A spokesperson for Transport Minister Chris Bishop said it would be inappropriate for him to respond to specific questions on the investigation.
There is widening scrutiny of NZTA’s management of taxpayer-funded infrastructure contracts, after reporting by the Sunday Star-Times and The Post revealed six separate investigations involving alliance and roading projects worth billions of dollars.
Board chairperson Simon Bridges has launched an external review into its integrity and complaints-handling processes.
A second review into processes and practices for dealing with whistleblowers, by barrister Samantha Turner, is also under way.
Earlier this month The Post revealed a preliminary NZTA integrity report identified more than $5.1 million in unapproved or contested variations on a major road safety project, alongside a disputed invoice that appeared to have billed for hours worked by a staff member while she was on leave.
It related to a consultancy firm, which The Post has chosen not to name. It rejected the allegations, saying the “picture being painted” did not reflect its experience of the project and that it was unaware of the report.
That followed Star-Times reporting on a leaked preliminary review into the $602m alliance set up to rebuild roads and rail links after Cyclone Gabrielle had raised concerns about spending, contractor accommodation arrangements, staffing levels, and resistance to releasing information.
It was sparked by disclosures from three protected whistleblowers.
And the SFO opened a probe after another internal report pointed to governance and conflict-of-interest issues within the Auckland motorway maintenance alliance.
That included allegations of financial discrepancies of between $700,000 and $1.3m, conflicts of interest, and preferential treatment of a subcontractor within the contractor alliance responsible for Auckland’s 200km motorway network.
An alliance is a partnership where government agencies or councils work as one team with private contractors to build major infrastructure projects. They are usually governed by a joint board that makes all decisions unanimously.
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