However, all of that changed earlier this year when Richard Edgar Anderson (51), a former police detective, admitted defrauding the Sevens with Altitude Committee, responsible for organising the annual Pub Charity Rugby Sevens tournament, which brings millions of dollars into Queenstown every January, and a group he had been involved in since its inception.
Yesterday, Anderson was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court to 10 months' home detention and ordered to pay $48,601 reparation in full within two years.
Despite charges being brought in February of causing loss by deception - which Anderson initially denied - whispers of his alleged involvement had been circulating through the town for months.
Some people were disbelieving, others struggled to understand how or why Anderson would do it. Most were outraged - and none more so than his fellow committee members.
Anderson worked in retail before joining the police force, eventually becoming a detective.
He left the force in 1996 and moved into hospitality in the North Island before moving to Queenstown in 2003.
Anderson began working with the Otago Rugby Football Union and New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) as a development officer and also secured the sevens tournament for Queenstown.
He also coached the Arrowtown premier rugby team and was involved with Arrowtown junior rugby teams, continuing with the latter this season.
In 2007 Anderson became a real estate agent, employment which came to an end in February when he was charged over his offending and his name was published by some media organisations.
Suddenly unemployed, Anderson, who was the caregiver of two children, was forced into rental accommodation and faced with selling assets to go towards the repayment of $64,000 owed to the committee.
There remains $48,601 outstanding.
Speaking after Anderson's sentencing yesterday, committee chairman Clark Frew said he was "pretty relieved" the drawn-out process had finally come to an end.
"I suppose, at the end of the day, we're a group of volunteers that do it for the love of it and to give something back to rugby.
"To have one of our group help himself to a lot of money was pretty gutting."
Mr Frew said initially he felt "disbelief" when the committee realised there was an anomaly in financial aspects of the tournament.
The process of determining what had happened took several months and, when the evidence pointed to Anderson, he was eventually spoken to by the committee.
"Originally ... he was confronted with the anomaly.
"We asked, 'Is there anything else?
'"He said, 'No, no. There's nothing else'.
"There was only a wee bit at the start," Mr Frew said.
"We'd given him the opportunity to front up ... We decided if he paid the money back we'd keep it in-house.
"We did some more digging and we found there was a lot more.
"The decision was made to take it to the police.
"It was the only right course of action to take."
Mr Frew said before charges were laid there had been "innuendo and rumours flying around", which the committee was unable to comment on.
It had also been difficult when Anderson initially denied the offending and had "strolled around like a prize peacock".
"You've got to front up and take responsibility for your actions. At the end of the day, what he did was reprehensible.
"He was stealing money from junior rugby and the amateur game which he stood up for ...
"To flog money from the organisation that funds, or tries to fund, those organisations, it was pretty hard to bear."
However, Mr Frew was upbeat yesterday and believed justice had now been done.
He said the 2012 tournament was staged without Anderson's input and was "one of the most profitable we've ever had".
Plans were under way for the 2013 tournament, which could be Queenstown's last.
While the NZRU was supportive of the Sevens with Altitude Committee, it believed after 10 years it was time to put the tournament out for tender, he said.
The union's decision was unrelated to Anderson's offending, he said.
After seeking expressions of interest, the NZRU provided a detailed tender framework which those interested in hosting the 2014 tournament had to fulfil.
Mr Frew believed six unions, including Otago, plus the Queenstown committee, had filed tender documents.
The successful tenderer would be known before Christmas, and Anderson's offending would not have "any ramifications" for the committee when it came to the NZRU making its decision.
