Tony Ryall

By Sharon Lundy of NZPA

Wellington, April 1 NZPA - A District Health Board (DHB) chairman installed to replace the man under whose watch $16.9 million was stolen from the organisation says he would not have done anything differently to his predecessor.

Michael Swann, 47, was last month sentenced to 9-1/2 years' jail and Kerry Harford to four years three months. Swann was the Otago DHB's former chief information technology officer and Harford a Queenstown surveyor and together they defrauded the board of $16.9m.

In February Health Minister Tony Ryall appointed Errol Millar chairman of the DHB, replacing Richard Thomson.

The minister said there had been systems failures at the board and questioned how Swann could park his Lamborghini next to the health board Corollas without setting off alarm bells.

But Mr Millar today told a parliamentary committee he would not have done anything differently to Mr Thomson "based solely on the knowledge that I have of what had gone before".

"Since I have been appointed chairman, I have enjoyed enormous support from Richard," he said.

"I did ask him to stay on the board and I did ask him to continue to chair the hospital advisory committee.

"I think that would have been a big loss to Otago if he'd gone completely because I think he has got something to contribute."

Otago DHB chief executive Brian Rousseau told the committee the board had done an "enormous" amount of fraud prevention work since the case came to light.

"It is a fascinating area and one I believe business in New Zealand needs to learn a lot more about," he said.

"If any business thinks that they are secure from fraud, they need to really think again, because it can happen to any organisation."

Fraud prevention started at the recruitment stage; anyone who lied on their CV should not be employed, Mr Rousseau said.

"That might be seen as quite petty but it's an indication of dishonesty," he said.

The board had set up a fraud hotline, 0800 FRAUD, which staff could call anonymously if they suspected anything. The hotline was staffed mostly by former police.

The board had reached a confidential repayment settlement with Harford.

"I'll never be happy about it. It has not been a pleasant experience for anybody associated with it," Mr Rousseau said.

"It will take the organisation a long time to get over it. There are issues of trust."

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