SINGAPORE: After it was discovered that a husband and wife had defrauded Oranga Tamariki, New Zealand’s Ministry for Children, of more than NZ$2 million (S$1.5 million), they attempted to evade justice by fleeing New Zealand on a business class flight operated by Singapore Airlines.
Neha and Amandeep Sharma, of Indian origin, took a one-way flight to Chennai with 80 kilos of luggage. With the help of Indian authorities, the couple was apprehended and returned to Christchurch.
Since then, Neha Sharma, who pleaded guilty to deception, forgery, and money laundering, among other charges, earlier this month, has been sentenced to three years in jail. Her husband, similarly, entered a guilty plea to deception and money laundering and will be sentenced in June.
Neha Sharma worked as a property and facilities manager at Oranga Tamariki, while Amandeep Sharma was a director for Divine Connection, a construction company.
Importantly, the two kept their marriage a secret, and Divine Connection was added to the ministry’s list of contractors. What was a serious conflict of interest was unknown to officials at Oranga Tamariki.
Neha Sharma approved contracts for her husband’s company and approved invoices for payment to Divine Connection. She also worked for the company during office hours.
By March 2023, New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office raided their property, and the investigation that followed showed that Neha and Amandeep Sharma had obtained more than NZ$2 million from the ministry.
The investigation also showed that Neha Sharma had forged some documents she submitted when she first applied to work at Oranga Tamariki in 2021.
When she was put in charge of managing all the property aspects relating to properties in a specific region, she added her husband’s company as a contractor, working behind the scenes to manipulate the system to bypass the needed checks for Divine Connection.
According to a report in the New Zealand Herald, between Jul 22, 2021, and Oct 28, 2022, Oranga Tamariki paid the company 103 times for 326 invoices.
Neha Sharma resigned in November 2022 but managed to get another job at the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) by Dec 12, again using falsified references.
When their three properties were raided the following March, the couple sprang into action, buying one-way tickets to Chennai and fleeing quickly.
The ministry has welcomed the couple’s convictions.
“Corruption of this kind is utterly unacceptable. Oranga Tamariki takes any case of fraud extremely seriously, as evidenced by its actions when concerns about this staff member’s activities were raised,” said Oranga Tamariki chief executive Andrew Bridgman. /TISG
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