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Murray Noone has been named as the third man accused of fraud in a case involving Auckland Transport and the former Rodney District Council.
Yesterday, Murray Noone abandoned his case for name suppression. He faces six charges of corruption and bribery following a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) invesitgation.
The other defendants are Stephen James Borlase and Barrie Kenneth James George.
Together, the three men are facing charges relating to bribery allegation in the awarding of roading contracts at AT and Rodney. They have all pleaded not guilty.
The case will be heard in the High Court on August 19, due to the seriousness of the charges and the complexity of the case.
In a hearing at North Shore District Court on July 16, Judge Pippa Sinclair declined Mr Noone’s application for name suppression, but Mr Noone appealed the decision. Mr Noone’s lawyer Paul Wicks QC said he would face extreme hardship if his name was publicised as he would lose his job and his partner may lose her job.
Mr Wicks said Mr Noone would be unable to pay his mortgage and would be unable to find a new job if he was named.
However, SFO lawyer Brian Dickey argued that these consequences did not amount to extreme hardship and were no more substantial than what could be expected from anyone facing serious fraud charges.
Judge Sinclair said the public interest in the case outweighed any hardship faced by the man and said his circumstances were not extraordinary and did not amount to extreme hardship.
The alleged offending is said to have taken place between 2005 and 2013.
The SFO alleges that Mr George and Mr Noone, while in various engineering and management roles either at AT or Rodney District Council, received undisclosed payments or gratuities from Projenz director Mr Borlase. Projenz was a supplier to AT and Rodney.
The gratuities often came in the form of cash, travel, accommodation and entertainment.
Mr George was employed as an engineer at Rodney from 1974 and then as a senior manager at Rodney District Council and Auckland Transport where he was responsible for leading the delivery of maintenance and renewal works until 2013.
If found guilty, the defendants could face prison terms of up to seven years.
