Photo / Alex BurtonA prominent business leader has been charged by the Serious Fraud Office and accused of obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars through deception from an iwi trust he once chaired. After an investigation spanning years, Roger Haare Charles Pikia, 52, appeared today in the Auckland District Court before Judge Pippa Sinclair. It is alleged between February 2014 and December 2015 he obtained property in the sum of $364,500 from Te Arawa River Iwi Trust (Tarit) by the provision of timesheets falsely representing his engagement in residual settlement negotiations. Roger Pikia at his first court appearance this afternoon in the Auckland District Court. "I strenuously deny these allegations and unequivocally state, that we will be vigorously defending the charges," Pikia said.

Source: New Zealand Herald December 16, 2020 02:38 UTC