Te Whitinga Mark Huirua was sentenced in the High Court at Whanganui to two years’ and 11 months’ imprisonment on a raft of fraud changes resulting in a $3.1 million loss to his South Taranaki iwi.
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An Australia-based fraudster has brought shame as well as a loss of mana and trust to his iwi after the organisation lost more than $3 million in a series of sophisticated investments.
The entrepreneurial South Taranaki iwi Ngā Rauru Kītahi, which created Kaitahi As One smoothie products made of indigenous superfoods and stocked in supermarkets around the country, lost $3.1m after putting its faith in Te Whitinga Mark Huirua.
Huirua lost $2.6 million in trading, including on cryptocurrency investments, and used $500,000 for personal expenditure.
He appeared before Justice Warrick Gendall in the High Court at Whanganui for sentencing on Friday after pleading guilty to six charges of using a forged document to gain a pecuniary advantage and one of carrying on a business fraudulently in February.
Huirua’s whānau belong to the iwi and were held in high standing but the court heard he has since been shunned by the organisation after his offending was discovered.
Members of the iwi were in the court’s public gallery for the sentencing but none of them were there in support of Huirua.
Gendall said Huirua felt crushed he was no longer part of the iwi and had been cut off from his whakapapa.
The iwi had suffered a significant loss of mana and trust as a result of Huirua’s offending, he…
