Former Auckland Transport manager sentenced over bribes

Barrie George (Briar Marbeck/Newshub.)
Barrie George (Briar Marbeck/Newshub.)

A former employee of Auckland Transport and Rodney District Council has been given home detention for accepting bribes worth more than $100,000.

Barrie Kenneth James George was this afternoon sentenced at the High Court in Auckland after pleading guilty last month to two charges of corruption and bribery of an official, following a Serious Fraud Office investigation.

George was working as a senior manager at Rodney District Council and Auckland Transport when the offending occurred.

Between December 2005 and June 2013, George admitted receiving undisclosed payments or gratuities totalling $103,580, often in the form of cash, travel, accommodation and entertainment.

Auckland Transport began its own investigation in late 2012 after George approached his superiors over concerns about how the organisation was managing its contracts with independent contractors. It was after George raised the alarm that the Serious Fraud Office became involved.

Although each of the charges carried a maximum jail term of seven years, Justice Lang decided a sentence of 10 months home detention would be more appropriate given George had cooperated with investigators and had raised the alarm in the first place.

George's former superior at Rodney District Council and Auckland Transport, Murray John Noone, is also facing charges for allegedly receiving more than $1 million in gratuities.

Stephen James Borlase, who was at the time running private contractor Projenz, is facing eight charges of bribing George and Noone, as well as four charges for doctoring the number of hours worked in invoices to the council.

Borlase and Noone will face trial later this month after pleading not guilty.

Newshub.