|
Guilty plea by Cook Islands promoter
Saturday, 2 March 2013, 2:35 pm
Press Release: Department Of Internal Affairs
|
Media Release
Immediate
Guilty plea by Cook
Islands promoter
A promoter of Cook Island culture
has pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Department of
Internal Affairs regarding grant applications for pokie
money.
Jacob Samson, 53, from Mangere, Auckland
appeared in court on 27 February. The charges relate to
grant applications he made in his capacity as chairman of
Drums of the Pacific Trust and the Cook Islands Kia Orana
Akapuanga Trust.
He has pleaded guilty to:
• two charges of obtaining by deception under s 240
Crimes Act
• eleven charges of altering a document
under s 258 Crimes Act and
• one charge of obtaining
by deception to cover the entire period of offending, May
2005 to April 2011.
The charges are for offences
relating to more than $200 000 distributed from grants made
from pokie funds.
The investigation by the
Department of Internal Affairs revealed that over a period
of six years Samson had altered receipts and bank statements
for the purpose of obtaining grants from 11 Societies which
distribute money lost on pokie machines to community
groups.
General Manager of Regulatory Services at
the Department of Internal Affairs, Maarten Quivooy says
that this case demonstrates that the Department will
investigate alleged non-compliance and will not hesitate to
call serious offenders to account.
Samson was
remanded on bail until sentencing on 17 April 2013 at the
Manukau District Court.
ends
© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On The 2013 Budget
Among Thursday’s main talking points:
We are apparently on track for a margin-of-error $75 million surplus, now in sight for 2014/15. But this sickly creature is hobbling out of the lab on the basis of all kinds of facilitative conjuring: such as trimming by $200 million the amount of new spending next time around.
With this strictly nominal surplus in sight, the 1984-ish justification for eternal austerity will have a news talisman: namely, getting Crown debt down to 20% of GDP by 2020. More>>
Budget Report, Lockup Audio & Images: Budget Day 2013 As always and especially after the managerial mishaps of the past few weeks and months, (e.g. Aaron Gilmore, the Mighty River Power share float, the GCSB mishaps) Budget Day 2013 was always going to be a pageant of reassurance... More>>
Budget 2013 Comment: Plain Sailing, But It's No America's Cup Pattrick Smellie: Compared to the last four budgets, this year's reflects an economy moving out of recession and into calmer waters... Yet if the fastest annual growth rate we can expect over the next two years is 3 percent - with the Christchurch rebuild in full swing - then you'd have to say New Zealand's underlying low-growth problem is far from fixed. More>>
Auckland Discord: Govt’s Power Hungry Housing Approach A Threat - Labour
Last week the Government said this, ‘The Government commits not to use any proposed or existing powers ... to override the council's planning and consenting processes’. But its housing Bill says this; ‘If an accord cannot be reached in an area of severe housing unaffordability, the Government can intervene by establishing special housing areas and issuing consents for developers’. More>>
ALSO:
Extending Protest Ban, Relaxing Permit Rules: Govt Abuses Urgency To Extend Anadarko Amendment
The Government is trying to pass legislation under urgency which would make the Anadarko Amendment – which limits protest at sea – apply to an additional 1.7 million square kilometres, the Green Party said today. More>>
ALSO: