Christchurch man facing 58 charges for alleged theft of $200,000 in grant funds

A Christchurch man is facing 58 charges relating to the alleged theft of over $200,000 in grant funding.

The Department of Internal Affairs filed the charges against the man all relate to dishonesty offending under the Crimes Act 1961 and include charges of forgery, theft of grant funds and dishonestly using a document.

Department of Internal Affairs Gambling Director Dave Robson said “we aim to ensure communities receive the maximum benefit from grants by detecting and deterring fraudulent activity in gambling-related grant funding.”

The defendant, who was involved both in the Class 4 gambling sector and the community sports sector, obtained $202,341.60 worth of grants on behalf of sporting organisations by allegedly submitting false quotes and failing to spend grant money on authorised purposes.

These incidents took place between 2018 and 2020.

The man has been remanded on bail and due appear in court again on 12 July 2023.