Two former Thermakraft employees plead guilty to taking secret kickbacks

Thursday 29th October 2015

Two former employees of building products company Thermakraft Industries (NZ) have pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office for secretly receiving kickbacks, after appearing in the Auckland District Court today.

Peter Sanele, a former factory manager at Thermakraft, admitted a Secret Commissions Act charge of failing to disclose a pecuniary interest in a contract and two Crimes Act charges of dishonestly using a document.

Mark Treadwell, a former director and shareholder at the East Tamaki based company, also pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to disclose a pecuniary interest in a contract. He resigned as a director of the company in June last year after his 5 percent shareholding was sold.

The Secret Commissions Act charge against the pair related to JMP Transport Ltd, a company in which Sanele and Treadwell had an interest, which supplied freight services to Thermakraft. The defendants secretly received kickbacks for contracts between the two companies.

Thermakraft has been operating in New Zealand since 1987 and sells a range of building products throughout New Zealand and worldwide.

The two other charges against Sanele related to a company MacPallets, which supplied pallets and other packaging materials to Thermakraft. Between 2009 and 2013, Sanele submitted 51 false invoices to Thermakraft on behalf of MacPallets.

Sanele pocketed $261,030 as a result of his offending while Treadwell received $90,000, according to the Serious Fraud Office..

SFO Director Julie Read said the pair were trusted employees of Thermakraft and obtained these commissions dishonestly by abusing that trust.

“This is the sort of behaviour that could harm New Zealand’s good reputation for low levels of corruption in business,” she said.

Sanele and Treadwell have been remanded on bail and will reappear for sentencing on Dec. 17.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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