Te Papa defrauded of $120,000 over more than a year

Te Papa has been defrauded of more than $120,000 by a worker who faked more than 100 invoices from casual staff over more than a year.

The national museum referred the matter to the police last week, with its chief executive describing the fraud as “sophisticated, well-planned, and carefully covered up”.

Court documents show former Te Papa senior payroll officer Vera Karataua admitted in the Wellington High Court to theft of $122,067.31 from the museum, from December 2018 to March 2020.

The museum confirmed Karataua’s admission to the fraud to Stuff on Sunday, following civil judgments against Karataua being made public by the court.

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Stuff has seen the judgments, but has been unable to reach Karataua, either directly or through her lawyers, for comment,

The fraud was discovered in March this year after discrepancies were noticed by another Te Papa staffer while Karataua was on leave, the museum said.

Karataua was suspended while an employment investigation was undertaken, before resigning with immediate effect, it said.

She admitted to the fraud in April this year.

Court documents show Karataua used the details of 28 of Te Papa’s casual staff over the 16-month period to generate false time sheets in their names without their knowledge.

She then diverted the payments into her own accounts, and altered casual employees’ details, including their email address, so they would not receive the fraudulent payslips.

As a result, Inland Revenue had incorrect earnings records for the casual staff affected, potentially affecting their tax bracket, student loan or KiwiSaver details.

Karataua took funds from the museum, not individual staff.

Courtney Johnston, Te Papa chief executive/tumu whakarae, said the museum took the breach of trust extremely seriously.

“We are deeply disappointed by the betrayal of trust ... The fraud was sophisticated, well-planned, and carefully covered up.”

Johnston said Te Papa had controls in place to prevent fraud, and had reviewed and tightened these further after discovering the theft.

In a statement, Te Papa said it had worked with Inland Revenue to ensure all the records were being corrected, and none of the casual staff were disadvantaged.

In addition to the forensic analysis to understand the scope of the fraud, KPMG had also been engaged to undertake an independent review of Te Papa’s payroll controls.

A final review of its payroll controls had not been completed, but a draft report recommended increased automation for casual time sheets, and enhanced checking of the payroll process.

Karataua has held the position of senior payroll officer with Te Papa since April 2018. Referee checks were undertaken when she was appointed, Te Papa said.

Now the museum’s civil legal action had been completed and suppression orders had been lifted, the matter had been referred through to police for criminal investigation.

Te Papa had provided police findings of its investigations, it said.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is one of Wellington’s largest function centres, with a large casual workforce.

Most of the 28 staff affected had been contacted by the museum, but it would continue in its attempts to contact those it had yet been able to reach.

Karataua and her lawyers have been contacted for comment.

Police were unable to provide information about the case on Sunday.