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The fifth and final defendant of the Broadspectrum road maintenance case was sentenced today at the Auckland District Court, concluding the Serious Fraud Office’s prosecution of the case.

Coastal Roading Contractors’ Frederick Pou, one of three subcontractors who were part of the scheme, pleaded guilty in May 2024 to corruptly giving $582,000 worth of gifts to an agent in exchange for being awarded road maintenance work.

Those gifts were given to former Broadspectrum roading contract manager Jason Koroheke, who was the architect of several schemes that involved subcontractors submitting both real and false invoices to Broadspectrum.

He accepted gifts in exchange for awarding this work and submitted false invoices to obtain significant benefits for himself, with Koroheke receiving gifts in the form of cash, goods or services worth more than $1 million.

Serious Fraud Office (SFO) director Karen Chang said Pou was one of several subcontractors who helped to enable Koroheke’s offending.

“The case highlights the various roles involved in a corruption case, from the ‘corrupter’ who masterminds the criminal scheme, to the ‘enablers’ who facilitate the offending,” Chang said.

“The case also highlights the potential consequence of placing too much trust in a senior employee without sufficient internal controls. These are critical counter fraud prevention measures that can reduce the possibility of organisations becoming a victim of fraud and corruption.”

Pou was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention for his role in the scheme.

Last of five

Pou is the last of five total defendants in the case to be sentenced; all pleaded guilty to the charges they faced.

Koroheke pleaded guilty in July 2024 to three charges of obtaining by deception and 14 charges of acceptance of gifts by agent between January 2015 and November 2018.

He was sentenced to four years and five months’ imprisonment on December 4, 2024 in the Auckland District Court.

Brian Ravening pleaded guilty in February 2024 to one charge of obtaining by deception of approximately $631,000 and two charges of corruptly giving gifts to an agent amounting to approximately $615,000.

He was sentenced in June 2024 to 12 months’ home detention and made a reparation payment of $300,000.

Richard Motilal, of Engineering & Aviation Supplies, pleaded guilty in February 2023 in the Auckland District Court to three charges of corruptly giving gifts to an agent.

He was sentenced in August 2023 to nine months’ home detention and to pay $25,000 in reparations.

Broadspectrum maintenance manager Aurelian Mihai Hossu pleaded guilty in April 2022 in the Auckland District Court to four charges of acceptance of gifts by an agent.

He was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention in June 2022 and made a reparation payment of $90,000.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.