Trojan horse of Tauranga
Politics 🗳️ NZ Politics
- Thread starter wizard of Tauranga
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #21,702
I don’t care what they do.
They are sticking their nose into my consent for my septic system and charging me for the privilege.
- Thread starter
- #21,703
Most parties I agree with the majority of their policies but no parties do I agree 100% on.
It’s being centralist (rather than extremist) and picking and choosing what we think will work. Best policies are win/win rather than win/lose.
I agree with Gareth, cats are pests.Just paid 20 bucks to Opportunity Party so I guess officially align with them even though I've voted for them since 2020 (first time I've spent any money on political parties).
Hope the new leader does a good job continuing to get the stink of Gareth Morgan off the party all these years later, his anti-cat stance really screwed things over for them, I still have mates bringing that up when the topic of who I vote for comes up (a case of bad publicity not being good publicity).
She seems like a good sort even though I missed out on the Welly open forum she had a week or two back.
Yay politics.
What's in the RoNS files? - Greater Auckland
Earlier this week, Te Waihanga, The Infrastructure Commission, called for Over the last couple of months, I’ve been trying to obtain information on the advice given to decision-makers about the RoNS. I sent three Official Information requests – to the … Continued
www.greaterauckland.org.nz
Jim grenon is an immediate danger to democracy in nz https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360...financial-backer-defamation-case-against-tvnz
Noitall
👤
Get sick of the skirting around questions like Williams does too. There are obviously false truths in there that all you need to do is acknowledge rather than say they never needed to be there
Meanwhile the nerve of this prick.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/chloe-swarbrick-a-demagogue-says-david-seymour/premium/MT4NQLVRTZH4HACOJ3PUUMIQJM/
miket12
🏛️
Wonder how many women are in jail for ripping of the MSD for a pittance while this jerk gets home detention... sometimes the system just stinks!!!
An Auckland businessman who pleaded guilty to laundering over $770,000 from ANZ Bank has had his sentence downgraded from over three years’ imprisonment to home detention in an act of “mercy”.
Derek Waller, 66, appeared for sentencing on Monday in the Auckland District Court for money laundering charges after “illegally obtaining” $773,448.67 in funds not intended for him.
Waller was an employee of ING NZ between May 2002 and April 2005. At the time, ING NZ was 49% owned by ANZ and 51% owned by ING Group. ANZ later took full ownership.
ANZ and insurance provider AIG Insurance entered into commercial arrangements for ANZ to sell its insurance products.
The arrangement saw ANZ receive ongoing monthly commissions, calculated based on a percentage of the total premiums that continued to be paid by customers.
However, AIG commission records associated with the ANZ legacy products indicated commission payments were made payable to a bank account owned by Waller’s business, Nutfields Management.
These payments would then be transferred out of Waller’s business bank account and into personal accounts, including his Airpoints Visa Platinum account, a car payment account and another for bill payments.
Waller was entitled to these commissions while employed with ING, however after ending his employment in 2005, the payments should have ceased.
He instead continued to receive commission payments from June 27, 2006 until January 31, 2022, totalling $773,448.67.
Instead of alerting AIG Insurance or ANZ about the issue, Waller continued to transfer the funds to his own accounts for personal use.
It was not until April 2022 that ANZ became aware of the closure of ANZ-named insurance products following a review and found the discrepancy.
Crown lawyer Clare Antenen sought a starting point of four to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and requested a reparation order to repay ANZ for the funds.
Arguing on his behalf, defence lawyer Guyon Foley described Waller as an “innovative man, not a man who pays attention to detail”, and that the payments “were a commission for a business idea”.
“It was a crime, and his life as you can imagine, has been turned upside down,” Foley said.
He said Waller had no previous convictions and worked his entire life as a “respected businessman”, noting he currently runs a business with eight employees.
Waller was initially intending to go to trial to fight the charge, but came to the conclusion that the cost of the trial and the stress of a jury would not be worth it, instead submitting a guilty plea on August 29.
Foley acknowledged Waller’s actions were “reckless”, but not that of a fraudster, noting that he was not responsible for setting up the payment system.
He also stressed that the commission slips detailing the payments had the name of Waller’s business, and would have been identifiable if investigated sooner.
Foley said Waller had expressed his “sincere remorse and humility” in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
However, Justice Kirsten Lummis said she did not feel that remorse within the pre-sentence report, noting his reluctance to plead guilty in the first instance was perhaps a sign of this.
“It’s uncertain to me as to why he wouldn’t have known, with his experience,” Judge Lummis said.
Judge Lummis referred to impact statements from Waller’s wife and daughter, who were in attendance along with two of his friends, although did not read them out in full.
They described Waller as a “hard-working, good father who has love and care for his employees” and someone “known for his kindness”.
Waller’s family and friends were visibly upset during the sentencing, often sharing glances with Waller, who was in the stand.
Foley raised the importance of Waller’s current health status, noting he is a type-one diabetic. Waller also sustained a heart attack in 2018 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2020, with his doctor describing his health as “unstable”.
During the sentencing, Waller held prescription medication and a monitoring device on his person, with Foley explaining he brought the items with him in case he was sentenced to imprisonment.
When considering whether reparations should be made to ANZ, Antenen sought a reparation order but couldn’t suggest an amount to be repaid as she had not been given evidence of Waller’s financial position.
She agreed with Judge Lummis that it was not realistic for the full amount to be repaid and reiterated that a percentage after living expenses were paid would suffice.
However, Foley contested the need for a reparation order, arguing that the amount lost by ANZ was “negligible”, given the bank’s $2.36 billion profit in its last financial result.
Foley had also advised Waller to set aside $50,000 that was originally going to cover expenses for a potential trial to instead be offered at sentencing for reparation.
However, Waller chose to use these funds for his current business to ensure his employees would receive appropriate remuneration over the Christmas break.
Considering the circumstances, Foley requested a starting point of three years’ imprisonment for Waller, discounted to home detention.
In deciding her sentence, Judge Lummis said the quantum of money received was the largest aggravating factor.
“That is significant and none of those funds have been recovered.”
While there was no victim impact statement from ANZ, Judge Lummis said the bank’s investigation required a high amount of work that “could have been spent in other ways”.
“There is a wider victim in terms of all of ANZ’s customers who in some ways will be paying for any losses that ANZ makes, in a general way.”
Judge Lummis settled on a starting point of three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
After considering his early guilty plea and his prior good behaviour, noting he had never been in court before, Judge Lummis discounted his sentence by 40%, resulting in 25 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Lummis acknowledged that the sentence was higher than what would be considered appropriate for home detention, and offered “an act of mercy from the court” for a further reduction to allow the end sentence to be one of home detention.
“You are someone who has stayed on the right side of the law and got on with making an honest living over a considerable period of time.
“From everything I’ve read about you, I take it the court will not be seeing you again and this has been a considerable shock to you. I hope you will make every effort to repay ANZ and make payments to them.”
Waller was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention at his Mairangi Bay property.
www.nzherald.co.nz
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
An Auckland businessman who pleaded guilty to laundering over $770,000 from ANZ Bank has had his sentence downgraded from over three years’ imprisonment to home detention in an act of “mercy”.
Derek Waller, 66, appeared for sentencing on Monday in the Auckland District Court for money laundering charges after “illegally obtaining” $773,448.67 in funds not intended for him.
Waller was an employee of ING NZ between May 2002 and April 2005. At the time, ING NZ was 49% owned by ANZ and 51% owned by ING Group. ANZ later took full ownership.
ANZ and insurance provider AIG Insurance entered into commercial arrangements for ANZ to sell its insurance products.
The arrangement saw ANZ receive ongoing monthly commissions, calculated based on a percentage of the total premiums that continued to be paid by customers.
However, AIG commission records associated with the ANZ legacy products indicated commission payments were made payable to a bank account owned by Waller’s business, Nutfields Management.
These payments would then be transferred out of Waller’s business bank account and into personal accounts, including his Airpoints Visa Platinum account, a car payment account and another for bill payments.
Waller was entitled to these commissions while employed with ING, however after ending his employment in 2005, the payments should have ceased.
He instead continued to receive commission payments from June 27, 2006 until January 31, 2022, totalling $773,448.67.
Instead of alerting AIG Insurance or ANZ about the issue, Waller continued to transfer the funds to his own accounts for personal use.
It was not until April 2022 that ANZ became aware of the closure of ANZ-named insurance products following a review and found the discrepancy.
Crown lawyer Clare Antenen sought a starting point of four to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and requested a reparation order to repay ANZ for the funds.
Arguing on his behalf, defence lawyer Guyon Foley described Waller as an “innovative man, not a man who pays attention to detail”, and that the payments “were a commission for a business idea”.
“It was a crime, and his life as you can imagine, has been turned upside down,” Foley said.
He said Waller had no previous convictions and worked his entire life as a “respected businessman”, noting he currently runs a business with eight employees.
Waller was initially intending to go to trial to fight the charge, but came to the conclusion that the cost of the trial and the stress of a jury would not be worth it, instead submitting a guilty plea on August 29.
Foley acknowledged Waller’s actions were “reckless”, but not that of a fraudster, noting that he was not responsible for setting up the payment system.
He also stressed that the commission slips detailing the payments had the name of Waller’s business, and would have been identifiable if investigated sooner.
Foley said Waller had expressed his “sincere remorse and humility” in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
However, Justice Kirsten Lummis said she did not feel that remorse within the pre-sentence report, noting his reluctance to plead guilty in the first instance was perhaps a sign of this.
“It’s uncertain to me as to why he wouldn’t have known, with his experience,” Judge Lummis said.
Judge Lummis referred to impact statements from Waller’s wife and daughter, who were in attendance along with two of his friends, although did not read them out in full.
They described Waller as a “hard-working, good father who has love and care for his employees” and someone “known for his kindness”.
Waller’s family and friends were visibly upset during the sentencing, often sharing glances with Waller, who was in the stand.
Foley raised the importance of Waller’s current health status, noting he is a type-one diabetic. Waller also sustained a heart attack in 2018 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2020, with his doctor describing his health as “unstable”.
During the sentencing, Waller held prescription medication and a monitoring device on his person, with Foley explaining he brought the items with him in case he was sentenced to imprisonment.
When considering whether reparations should be made to ANZ, Antenen sought a reparation order but couldn’t suggest an amount to be repaid as she had not been given evidence of Waller’s financial position.
She agreed with Judge Lummis that it was not realistic for the full amount to be repaid and reiterated that a percentage after living expenses were paid would suffice.
However, Foley contested the need for a reparation order, arguing that the amount lost by ANZ was “negligible”, given the bank’s $2.36 billion profit in its last financial result.
Foley had also advised Waller to set aside $50,000 that was originally going to cover expenses for a potential trial to instead be offered at sentencing for reparation.
However, Waller chose to use these funds for his current business to ensure his employees would receive appropriate remuneration over the Christmas break.
Considering the circumstances, Foley requested a starting point of three years’ imprisonment for Waller, discounted to home detention.
In deciding her sentence, Judge Lummis said the quantum of money received was the largest aggravating factor.
“That is significant and none of those funds have been recovered.”
While there was no victim impact statement from ANZ, Judge Lummis said the bank’s investigation required a high amount of work that “could have been spent in other ways”.
“There is a wider victim in terms of all of ANZ’s customers who in some ways will be paying for any losses that ANZ makes, in a general way.”
Judge Lummis settled on a starting point of three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
After considering his early guilty plea and his prior good behaviour, noting he had never been in court before, Judge Lummis discounted his sentence by 40%, resulting in 25 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Lummis acknowledged that the sentence was higher than what would be considered appropriate for home detention, and offered “an act of mercy from the court” for a further reduction to allow the end sentence to be one of home detention.
“You are someone who has stayed on the right side of the law and got on with making an honest living over a considerable period of time.
“From everything I’ve read about you, I take it the court will not be seeing you again and this has been a considerable shock to you. I hope you will make every effort to repay ANZ and make payments to them.”
Waller was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention at his Mairangi Bay property.
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
Derek Waller allowed ANZ-linked commissions to be paid into his account for 16 years.
miket12
🏛️
It's a pity that they didn't realise that it's the local council's through the Traffic Standards which set the distance between cones and TSM contractors have to meet those standards. In some areas, a lot less cones are required than in others. Would have saved one hell of a lot of money.A useless performative distraction that cost us money, for no gain other than a smoke screen.
View attachment 15142
Stuff
www.stuff.co.nz
White collar crime has always attracted far lower sentences - there's ingrained racism in the justice system baked in.Wonder how many women are in jail for ripping of the MSD for a pittance while this jerk gets home detention... sometimes the system just stinks!!!
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
An Auckland businessman who pleaded guilty to laundering over $770,000 from ANZ Bank has had his sentence downgraded from over three years’ imprisonment to home detention in an act of “mercy”.
Derek Waller, 66, appeared for sentencing on Monday in the Auckland District Court for money laundering charges after “illegally obtaining” $773,448.67 in funds not intended for him.
Waller was an employee of ING NZ between May 2002 and April 2005. At the time, ING NZ was 49% owned by ANZ and 51% owned by ING Group. ANZ later took full ownership.
ANZ and insurance provider AIG Insurance entered into commercial arrangements for ANZ to sell its insurance products.
The arrangement saw ANZ receive ongoing monthly commissions, calculated based on a percentage of the total premiums that continued to be paid by customers.
However, AIG commission records associated with the ANZ legacy products indicated commission payments were made payable to a bank account owned by Waller’s business, Nutfields Management.
These payments would then be transferred out of Waller’s business bank account and into personal accounts, including his Airpoints Visa Platinum account, a car payment account and another for bill payments.
Waller was entitled to these commissions while employed with ING, however after ending his employment in 2005, the payments should have ceased.
He instead continued to receive commission payments from June 27, 2006 until January 31, 2022, totalling $773,448.67.
Instead of alerting AIG Insurance or ANZ about the issue, Waller continued to transfer the funds to his own accounts for personal use.
It was not until April 2022 that ANZ became aware of the closure of ANZ-named insurance products following a review and found the discrepancy.
Crown lawyer Clare Antenen sought a starting point of four to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and requested a reparation order to repay ANZ for the funds.
Arguing on his behalf, defence lawyer Guyon Foley described Waller as an “innovative man, not a man who pays attention to detail”, and that the payments “were a commission for a business idea”.
“It was a crime, and his life as you can imagine, has been turned upside down,” Foley said.
He said Waller had no previous convictions and worked his entire life as a “respected businessman”, noting he currently runs a business with eight employees.
Waller was initially intending to go to trial to fight the charge, but came to the conclusion that the cost of the trial and the stress of a jury would not be worth it, instead submitting a guilty plea on August 29.
Foley acknowledged Waller’s actions were “reckless”, but not that of a fraudster, noting that he was not responsible for setting up the payment system.
He also stressed that the commission slips detailing the payments had the name of Waller’s business, and would have been identifiable if investigated sooner.
Foley said Waller had expressed his “sincere remorse and humility” in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
However, Justice Kirsten Lummis said she did not feel that remorse within the pre-sentence report, noting his reluctance to plead guilty in the first instance was perhaps a sign of this.
“It’s uncertain to me as to why he wouldn’t have known, with his experience,” Judge Lummis said.
Judge Lummis referred to impact statements from Waller’s wife and daughter, who were in attendance along with two of his friends, although did not read them out in full.
They described Waller as a “hard-working, good father who has love and care for his employees” and someone “known for his kindness”.
Waller’s family and friends were visibly upset during the sentencing, often sharing glances with Waller, who was in the stand.
Foley raised the importance of Waller’s current health status, noting he is a type-one diabetic. Waller also sustained a heart attack in 2018 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2020, with his doctor describing his health as “unstable”.
During the sentencing, Waller held prescription medication and a monitoring device on his person, with Foley explaining he brought the items with him in case he was sentenced to imprisonment.
When considering whether reparations should be made to ANZ, Antenen sought a reparation order but couldn’t suggest an amount to be repaid as she had not been given evidence of Waller’s financial position.
She agreed with Judge Lummis that it was not realistic for the full amount to be repaid and reiterated that a percentage after living expenses were paid would suffice.
However, Foley contested the need for a reparation order, arguing that the amount lost by ANZ was “negligible”, given the bank’s $2.36 billion profit in its last financial result.
Foley had also advised Waller to set aside $50,000 that was originally going to cover expenses for a potential trial to instead be offered at sentencing for reparation.
However, Waller chose to use these funds for his current business to ensure his employees would receive appropriate remuneration over the Christmas break.
Considering the circumstances, Foley requested a starting point of three years’ imprisonment for Waller, discounted to home detention.
In deciding her sentence, Judge Lummis said the quantum of money received was the largest aggravating factor.
“That is significant and none of those funds have been recovered.”
While there was no victim impact statement from ANZ, Judge Lummis said the bank’s investigation required a high amount of work that “could have been spent in other ways”.
“There is a wider victim in terms of all of ANZ’s customers who in some ways will be paying for any losses that ANZ makes, in a general way.”
Judge Lummis settled on a starting point of three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
After considering his early guilty plea and his prior good behaviour, noting he had never been in court before, Judge Lummis discounted his sentence by 40%, resulting in 25 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Lummis acknowledged that the sentence was higher than what would be considered appropriate for home detention, and offered “an act of mercy from the court” for a further reduction to allow the end sentence to be one of home detention.
“You are someone who has stayed on the right side of the law and got on with making an honest living over a considerable period of time.
“From everything I’ve read about you, I take it the court will not be seeing you again and this has been a considerable shock to you. I hope you will make every effort to repay ANZ and make payments to them.”
Waller was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention at his Mairangi Bay property.
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
Derek Waller allowed ANZ-linked commissions to be paid into his account for 16 years.
miket12
🏛️
Next question.... why should this guy get to vote because he hasn't been sent to jail for over three years?Wonder how many women are in jail for ripping of the MSD for a pittance while this jerk gets home detention... sometimes the system just stinks!!!
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
An Auckland businessman who pleaded guilty to laundering over $770,000 from ANZ Bank has had his sentence downgraded from over three years’ imprisonment to home detention in an act of “mercy”.
Derek Waller, 66, appeared for sentencing on Monday in the Auckland District Court for money laundering charges after “illegally obtaining” $773,448.67 in funds not intended for him.
Waller was an employee of ING NZ between May 2002 and April 2005. At the time, ING NZ was 49% owned by ANZ and 51% owned by ING Group. ANZ later took full ownership.
ANZ and insurance provider AIG Insurance entered into commercial arrangements for ANZ to sell its insurance products.
The arrangement saw ANZ receive ongoing monthly commissions, calculated based on a percentage of the total premiums that continued to be paid by customers.
However, AIG commission records associated with the ANZ legacy products indicated commission payments were made payable to a bank account owned by Waller’s business, Nutfields Management.
These payments would then be transferred out of Waller’s business bank account and into personal accounts, including his Airpoints Visa Platinum account, a car payment account and another for bill payments.
Waller was entitled to these commissions while employed with ING, however after ending his employment in 2005, the payments should have ceased.
He instead continued to receive commission payments from June 27, 2006 until January 31, 2022, totalling $773,448.67.
Instead of alerting AIG Insurance or ANZ about the issue, Waller continued to transfer the funds to his own accounts for personal use.
It was not until April 2022 that ANZ became aware of the closure of ANZ-named insurance products following a review and found the discrepancy.
Crown lawyer Clare Antenen sought a starting point of four to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and requested a reparation order to repay ANZ for the funds.
Arguing on his behalf, defence lawyer Guyon Foley described Waller as an “innovative man, not a man who pays attention to detail”, and that the payments “were a commission for a business idea”.
“It was a crime, and his life as you can imagine, has been turned upside down,” Foley said.
He said Waller had no previous convictions and worked his entire life as a “respected businessman”, noting he currently runs a business with eight employees.
Waller was initially intending to go to trial to fight the charge, but came to the conclusion that the cost of the trial and the stress of a jury would not be worth it, instead submitting a guilty plea on August 29.
Foley acknowledged Waller’s actions were “reckless”, but not that of a fraudster, noting that he was not responsible for setting up the payment system.
He also stressed that the commission slips detailing the payments had the name of Waller’s business, and would have been identifiable if investigated sooner.
Foley said Waller had expressed his “sincere remorse and humility” in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
However, Justice Kirsten Lummis said she did not feel that remorse within the pre-sentence report, noting his reluctance to plead guilty in the first instance was perhaps a sign of this.
“It’s uncertain to me as to why he wouldn’t have known, with his experience,” Judge Lummis said.
Judge Lummis referred to impact statements from Waller’s wife and daughter, who were in attendance along with two of his friends, although did not read them out in full.
They described Waller as a “hard-working, good father who has love and care for his employees” and someone “known for his kindness”.
Waller’s family and friends were visibly upset during the sentencing, often sharing glances with Waller, who was in the stand.
Foley raised the importance of Waller’s current health status, noting he is a type-one diabetic. Waller also sustained a heart attack in 2018 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2020, with his doctor describing his health as “unstable”.
During the sentencing, Waller held prescription medication and a monitoring device on his person, with Foley explaining he brought the items with him in case he was sentenced to imprisonment.
When considering whether reparations should be made to ANZ, Antenen sought a reparation order but couldn’t suggest an amount to be repaid as she had not been given evidence of Waller’s financial position.
She agreed with Judge Lummis that it was not realistic for the full amount to be repaid and reiterated that a percentage after living expenses were paid would suffice.
However, Foley contested the need for a reparation order, arguing that the amount lost by ANZ was “negligible”, given the bank’s $2.36 billion profit in its last financial result.
Foley had also advised Waller to set aside $50,000 that was originally going to cover expenses for a potential trial to instead be offered at sentencing for reparation.
However, Waller chose to use these funds for his current business to ensure his employees would receive appropriate remuneration over the Christmas break.
Considering the circumstances, Foley requested a starting point of three years’ imprisonment for Waller, discounted to home detention.
In deciding her sentence, Judge Lummis said the quantum of money received was the largest aggravating factor.
“That is significant and none of those funds have been recovered.”
While there was no victim impact statement from ANZ, Judge Lummis said the bank’s investigation required a high amount of work that “could have been spent in other ways”.
“There is a wider victim in terms of all of ANZ’s customers who in some ways will be paying for any losses that ANZ makes, in a general way.”
Judge Lummis settled on a starting point of three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
After considering his early guilty plea and his prior good behaviour, noting he had never been in court before, Judge Lummis discounted his sentence by 40%, resulting in 25 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Lummis acknowledged that the sentence was higher than what would be considered appropriate for home detention, and offered “an act of mercy from the court” for a further reduction to allow the end sentence to be one of home detention.
“You are someone who has stayed on the right side of the law and got on with making an honest living over a considerable period of time.
“From everything I’ve read about you, I take it the court will not be seeing you again and this has been a considerable shock to you. I hope you will make every effort to repay ANZ and make payments to them.”
Waller was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention at his Mairangi Bay property.
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
Derek Waller allowed ANZ-linked commissions to be paid into his account for 16 years.
Noitall
👤
The whole system is a joke. I go on about it but the aspect of roadworks needing money spent in order to receive the next lot fascinates me
Wonder how many women are in jail for ripping of the MSD for a pittance while this jerk gets home detention... sometimes the system just stinks!!!
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
An Auckland businessman who pleaded guilty to laundering over $770,000 from ANZ Bank has had his sentence downgraded from over three years’ imprisonment to home detention in an act of “mercy”.
Derek Waller, 66, appeared for sentencing on Monday in the Auckland District Court for money laundering charges after “illegally obtaining” $773,448.67 in funds not intended for him.
Waller was an employee of ING NZ between May 2002 and April 2005. At the time, ING NZ was 49% owned by ANZ and 51% owned by ING Group. ANZ later took full ownership.
ANZ and insurance provider AIG Insurance entered into commercial arrangements for ANZ to sell its insurance products.
The arrangement saw ANZ receive ongoing monthly commissions, calculated based on a percentage of the total premiums that continued to be paid by customers.
However, AIG commission records associated with the ANZ legacy products indicated commission payments were made payable to a bank account owned by Waller’s business, Nutfields Management.
These payments would then be transferred out of Waller’s business bank account and into personal accounts, including his Airpoints Visa Platinum account, a car payment account and another for bill payments.
Waller was entitled to these commissions while employed with ING, however after ending his employment in 2005, the payments should have ceased.
He instead continued to receive commission payments from June 27, 2006 until January 31, 2022, totalling $773,448.67.
Instead of alerting AIG Insurance or ANZ about the issue, Waller continued to transfer the funds to his own accounts for personal use.
It was not until April 2022 that ANZ became aware of the closure of ANZ-named insurance products following a review and found the discrepancy.
Crown lawyer Clare Antenen sought a starting point of four to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and requested a reparation order to repay ANZ for the funds.
Arguing on his behalf, defence lawyer Guyon Foley described Waller as an “innovative man, not a man who pays attention to detail”, and that the payments “were a commission for a business idea”.
“It was a crime, and his life as you can imagine, has been turned upside down,” Foley said.
He said Waller had no previous convictions and worked his entire life as a “respected businessman”, noting he currently runs a business with eight employees.
Waller was initially intending to go to trial to fight the charge, but came to the conclusion that the cost of the trial and the stress of a jury would not be worth it, instead submitting a guilty plea on August 29.
Foley acknowledged Waller’s actions were “reckless”, but not that of a fraudster, noting that he was not responsible for setting up the payment system.
He also stressed that the commission slips detailing the payments had the name of Waller’s business, and would have been identifiable if investigated sooner.
Foley said Waller had expressed his “sincere remorse and humility” in a letter to the judge before sentencing.
However, Justice Kirsten Lummis said she did not feel that remorse within the pre-sentence report, noting his reluctance to plead guilty in the first instance was perhaps a sign of this.
“It’s uncertain to me as to why he wouldn’t have known, with his experience,” Judge Lummis said.
Judge Lummis referred to impact statements from Waller’s wife and daughter, who were in attendance along with two of his friends, although did not read them out in full.
They described Waller as a “hard-working, good father who has love and care for his employees” and someone “known for his kindness”.
Waller’s family and friends were visibly upset during the sentencing, often sharing glances with Waller, who was in the stand.
Foley raised the importance of Waller’s current health status, noting he is a type-one diabetic. Waller also sustained a heart attack in 2018 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2020, with his doctor describing his health as “unstable”.
During the sentencing, Waller held prescription medication and a monitoring device on his person, with Foley explaining he brought the items with him in case he was sentenced to imprisonment.
When considering whether reparations should be made to ANZ, Antenen sought a reparation order but couldn’t suggest an amount to be repaid as she had not been given evidence of Waller’s financial position.
She agreed with Judge Lummis that it was not realistic for the full amount to be repaid and reiterated that a percentage after living expenses were paid would suffice.
However, Foley contested the need for a reparation order, arguing that the amount lost by ANZ was “negligible”, given the bank’s $2.36 billion profit in its last financial result.
Foley had also advised Waller to set aside $50,000 that was originally going to cover expenses for a potential trial to instead be offered at sentencing for reparation.
However, Waller chose to use these funds for his current business to ensure his employees would receive appropriate remuneration over the Christmas break.
Considering the circumstances, Foley requested a starting point of three years’ imprisonment for Waller, discounted to home detention.
In deciding her sentence, Judge Lummis said the quantum of money received was the largest aggravating factor.
“That is significant and none of those funds have been recovered.”
While there was no victim impact statement from ANZ, Judge Lummis said the bank’s investigation required a high amount of work that “could have been spent in other ways”.
“There is a wider victim in terms of all of ANZ’s customers who in some ways will be paying for any losses that ANZ makes, in a general way.”
Judge Lummis settled on a starting point of three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
After considering his early guilty plea and his prior good behaviour, noting he had never been in court before, Judge Lummis discounted his sentence by 40%, resulting in 25 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Lummis acknowledged that the sentence was higher than what would be considered appropriate for home detention, and offered “an act of mercy from the court” for a further reduction to allow the end sentence to be one of home detention.
“You are someone who has stayed on the right side of the law and got on with making an honest living over a considerable period of time.
“From everything I’ve read about you, I take it the court will not be seeing you again and this has been a considerable shock to you. I hope you will make every effort to repay ANZ and make payments to them.”
Waller was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention at his Mairangi Bay property.
Auckland businessman who took $773k in ANZ commissions gets home detention
Derek Waller allowed ANZ-linked commissions to be paid into his account for 16 years.
Thieves are worse than money launderers
- Thread starter
- #21,716
CHTgot describes a demagogue as:
a person—usually a political leader or public speaker—who gains power or support by appealing to people’s emotions, fears, and prejudices rather than using reasoned arguments or facts.
Key traits of a demagogue:
- Uses emotional language (anger, fear, pride)
- Blames problems on scapegoats (groups, outsiders, elites)
- Makes simplistic promises to complex problems
- Often dismisses experts, institutions, or the media
- Frames themselves as the only true voice of “the people”
A demagogue persuades by stirring feelings, not by sound reasoning.Sounds exactly like Chloe and most left politics - personality politics; divisively creating enemies in landlords, wealthy, employers, colonisers, elites, etc using fear and emotion.
One of the big difference between the left and right really.
Noitall
👤
I’d say that describes David Seymour more than anyone elseCHTgot describes a demagogue as:
a person—usually a political leader or public speaker—who gains power or support by appealing to people’s emotions, fears, and prejudices rather than using reasoned arguments or facts.
Key traits of a demagogue:
In short:
- Uses emotional language (anger, fear, pride)
- Blames problems on scapegoats (groups, outsiders, elites)
- Makes simplistic promises to complex problems
- Often dismisses experts, institutions, or the media
- Frames themselves as the only true voice of “the people”
Sounds exactly like Chloe and most left politics - personality politics; divisively creating enemies in landlords, wealthy, employers, colonisers, elites, etc using fear and emotion.
One of the big difference between the left and right really.
And Trump
Goldsmith is reportedly trying to hurry up the election results but with Winston screwing around for 2 months trying to get a bigger bite of the cherry not much will changeStuff
www.stuff.co.nz
Gone are the days of voting for whoever puts on a feed
