In a scathing judgment the Court of Appeal has condemned the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for its “unnecessary, unreasonable and oppressive” methods, marking a turning point for the embattled agency.
The ruling, released Friday, highlights indiscriminate and unlawful practices that have compromised investigations over the past decade and could reshape how the SFO operates.
The judgment, which brought an abrupt end to a high-profile fraud case involving Waikato businessman and Māori trust chair Roger Pikia, found that 118 out of 203 SFO orders breached the law.
The case revolved around a trust managing $10 million in treaty settlement funds but collapsed after the court declared much of the evidence inadmissible.
The Court of Appeal’s findings are particularly damning. “The SFO’s approach involved significant overreach, looking for evidence of any misconduct in ‘the affairs of Roger Pikia’ regardless of whether or not such evidence was within the proper scope of the authorised investigation,” the judges wrote.
They described the SFO’s practices as “the antithesis of the correct approach.”
The court further criticised the SFO for sweeping data collection that included banking, phone, and travel records for Pikia and others, including Tainui leader Tukoroirangi Morgan and the late Sir Wira Gardiner.
These actions, the court noted, amounted to a “substantial and unjustified invasion of privacy.”
Deputy PM Winston Peters weighed in strongly on X, denouncing the SFO’s behaviour as “incompetent and arrogant.” He stated:
“The modus operandi of the SFO to conduct unlawful fishing expeditions is now apparent and demands that the directors who have been in charge, both past and present, need to be held to account. This ruling is not a matter that can be swept under the carpet.”
Peters, who previously led New Zealand First through an SFO investigation, highlighted the agency’s repeated disregard for legal warnings.
“The SFO was warned by reputable counsel in 2017 about their unlawful methods, yet they decided to ignore it and continue on regardless,” he wrote.
The ruling’s implications are far-reaching.
With calls for urgent legislative reform, Parliament may need to either overhaul the SFO Act or place the agency under the Search and Surveillance Act. The SFO’s current practices, the court argued, are “incompatible with modern legal standards”.
SFO Director Karen Chang defended the agency’s original decision to prosecute Pikia but admitted the ruling undermined the case. “There now remains insufficient admissible evidence to justify proceeding further with this case,” she said in a statement. Chang acknowledged that the SFO has since modernised its practices to align with advancements in digital evidence collection.
Despite this, the ruling raises questions about other ongoing and past investigations.
According to Peters, “The outcome of this ruling shines a spotlight on the operation of the SFO…and questions their methods, authority, and overreach for previous investigations.”
The court’s conclusions underscore a critical need for accountability and transparency within the SFO. As Peters asserted, “Parliament cannot have intended that these intrusive powers, which may have considerable impact on the liberty of an individual, could be exercised in a disproportionate or indiscriminate manner.”
For Pikia, the collapse of the case marks the end of an eight-year legal battle.
Today the Court of Appeal has found the Serious Fraud Office has been acting indiscriminately and unlawfully throughout an eight year long investigation.
The SFO has shown their incompetence and arrogance and shown to be abusing their authority to conduct its own overreaching…
— Winston Peters (@winstonpeters) November 29, 2024
“Parliament cannot have intended that these intrusive powers, which may have considerable impact on the liberty of an individual, could be exercised in a disproportionate or indiscriminate manner.”
Isn’t this definition precisely what most New Zealanders experienced under the tyrannical COVID mandates and lock downs at the hands of the then New Zealand so called government, cheered on by most of the current govt?
Where’s New Zealand’s courts on this? The silence is deafening.
I totally agree.
Where is Winston prosecuting the crime of the century, namely the mandated injections of a bio-weapon?
Do we know if Winston was injected with the magic plebs-only bio-weapon ‘vaccine’?
I’m guessing not, but I don’t actually know.
It would be interesting to find out.
Can’t wait to hear the sound of the tide turning.
“Rules for thee, but not for me” is a very real thing.
SFO staff are government employees. Overreach is a polite way of saying, government never legislated nor intended such behaviour and actions from members of the SFO.
The SFO staff have acted unlawfully.
I want to see the individual names. Criminal charges, an open trial.
Seems the serious fraud office is aptly named
Cool. The Serious Fraud Office is running a serious criminal fraud.
What’s not to like?
It does what it says on the tin.
I like the business model. How do I invest in these guys?
Hmm. Fantastic!!!
‘Serious fraud’ covertly conducted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
It doesn’t get much funnier than this.
Will anybody be held accountable?
Answer: Nope.
This is great.
The S.F.O is entirely corrupt.
Comedy clown-world central.
Oh dear.
Another parasitic government department consuming hard-earned tax-payer dollars for nefarious self-serving outcomes.
Oh well, it is what is.
Wow!
How bad is this?
Answers on a postcard to The Serious Fraud Office (S.F.O).
#BentCoppers
It’s Banana Republic time once again folks.
SFO just slipped on the skin because the Parliamentary oversight kakistocracy are even worse.
Perhaps in time MOH will be held to the flame …
Nope. No breath holding allowed. Too many DOA already.
The SFO fandango by #CentBoppers. Xmas 2024 hit single: ‘Change the Karen’.