Indian-origin couple found guilty of defrauding New Zealand govt

An Indianorigin couple has been found guilty of defrauding a government company for over USD 2 million in Christchurch of New Zealand the PTI reported on TuesdayAccording to the New Zealand Herald Amandeep Sharma pleaded guilty on May 16 and will now be sentenced in June the news agency reportedEarlier this month after pleading guilty to a series of charges including obtaining by deception money laundering and using a forged document his wife was jailed for three years the newspaper saidAccording to news portal the pressconz the government agency Oranga Tamariki made 103 payments to Amandeeps company Divine Connection between July 2021 and October 2022 corresponding to 326 invoices The total amount paid was just under USD 215 million reported PTIThe New Zealand Herald detailed how the couple orchestrated the fraud and reported that Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Andrew Bridgman confirmed an internal investigation was launched in November 2022 immediately after concerns were raised The matter was then referred to the Serious Fraud Office SFO leading to the prosecution reported PTINeha began working as a property manager at Oranga Tamariki in 2021 by submitting forged references from her previous role at the Ministry of Education Upon joining she agreed to a code of conduct that explicitly prohibited conflicts of interest However disregarding these rules she leveraged her role to register her husband Amandeeprsquos construction company Divine Connection within the agencyrsquos system assigning it tasks related to property maintenance and similar servicesAccording to New Zealand Herald ldquoOf the 203 jobs recorded as being assigned to Divine Connection in LogIT 91 were created by Neha Sharma herself 64 were created by the helpdesk and 20 were created by the friend The remainder appeared to have been created by another Facilities Management Officer FMO No one knew about their marriage until after theyd conned the government agency out of more than USD 2 millionrdquoThe internal investigation uncovered multiple warning signs one of which was that Amandeeprsquos company was registered at the same address as Neharsquos residence When Oranga Tamariki confronted her during the inquiry Neha immediately resigned Shortly afterward Amandeep was removed as the companyrsquos director and the business address was updated Neha subsequently secured a job with another organizationBy the time the Serious Fraud Office SFO carried out its raids the couple had amassed significant assets including three properties three vehicles and around USD 800000 in their joint bank accountsThe newspaper saidldquoLess than two weeks after the SFO knocked on their front door the couple booked two oneway tickets flying business class on Singapore Airlines to Chennai India The trip seemed strange since the couple had a busy schedule ahead in Christchurch including pregnancyThe couple boarded their flight on April 14 with 80 kgs of luggage between them and before leaving they attempted to liquidate their properties and cars and transferred just under USD 800000 in cash from their bank accounts to accounts held in IndiardquoThe Serious Fraud Office SFO investigation uncovered that the hidden funds had been transferred from Amandeeprsquos Bank of India account to seven other bank accounts located in India Additionally the High Court in Christchurch issued restraining orders concerning the couples properties and the proceeds from any salesQuoting SFO director Karen Chang thepressconz said ldquoWe would like to acknowledge the police and Indian authorities for their swift action and assistance in securing the defendants assetsrdquoIn court on Friday Nehas lawyer attributed her actions to lsquobaby brainrsquo suggesting impaired judgment due to pregnancy or early motherhood However the Crown argued that she showed no signs of remorse and had made no attempt at reparation Neha is currently serving her sentence in prison with her infant while the couplersquos older child is staying in India with Amandeeprsquos sisterWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params