ACK Contractors Ltd director Colin Fitzgibbon has been sentenced to nine months home detention and ordered to pay reparation of $83,563.65 by the Christchurch District Court for falsifying records and dishonestly incurring debts.
In 2018, Fitzgibbon’s company entered into an invoice-purchasing contract with Canterbury Invoice Finance Ltd. That company was trading as FIFO Capital.
At the beginning of 2020, ACK Contractors had a contract to undertake work on the Christchurch Northern Corridor Alliance (CNC Alliance) project.
This was a roading project involving the construction of a new four-lane motorway from south of the Waimakariri River, connecting to Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Drive and Cranford St in Christchurch.
Also in early 2020, ACK Contractors Ltd was sub-contracted to HEB Construction Ltd to undertake road maintenance for Christchurch City Council.
Between January and March 2020, Fitzgibbon provided fraudulent invoices valued at $668,392.95 to FIFO Capital. As a result, ACK Contractors Ltd was advanced $535,665.05.
Receivers were appointed to ACK Contractors in April 2020. But invoicing issues were detected when the receivers sought to recover the purported debts from the CNC Alliance and HEB Construction Ltd.
Both companies told the receivers the invoices were fraudulent and no money was owed to ACK Contractors Ltd.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment national manager of criminal proceeds integrity and enforcement, Vanessa Cook, said his moderately sophisticated offending saw Fitzgibbon generate invoices based on the company’s forecasted data for the month ahead.
“He sold the invoices to FIFO Capital so that his company could get cash faster than it would have received if it had waited for monthly payments made by the client companies,” Ms Cook said.
“The offending was pre-meditated. While Mr Fitzgibbon intended to complete the work, he was aware that there was a risk of causing loss.”
On Thursday, October 31, Judge GM Lynch took into account Fitzgibbon’s remorse, early plea and cooperation during the investigation when handing down his sentence.
