The director and shareholder of Alpine Medical Hardware Limited has been sentenced to community detention for bribing a former manager of Auckland District Health Board.
Reports indicate that the director engaged in this conduct to obtain contracts.
William MacKenzie received a four-month community detention sentence after admitting in the Auckland District Court that he made payments to a senior health board manager to get contracts for supplying medical equipment.
From September 2008 to October 2015, MacKenzie orchestrated 28 payments totalling $170,214.95 from Alpine to the manager, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has revealed.
The payments were provided as incentives or rewards for the manager to support Alpine, including placing orders with the company and approving its invoices.
These payments were never reported to ADHB, even though the manager had a legal and contractual duty to disclose them.
The SFO’s investigation revealed that from January 2001 to June 2007, ADHB paid Alpine approximately $52,000 annually.
Following the senior manager’s commencement at ADHB in 2007, the health board paid Alpine roughly $400,000 annually until 2016.
“In this case, public funds intended to support patient care were compromised by an undisclosed financial relationship,” SFO director Karen Chang said.
“The SFO is particularly focused on addressing corruption risks that impact health and safety, where such conduct can undermine fair procurement processes and erode public confidence in the integrity of essential services.”
The ex-ADHB manager has entered a plea of not guilty to allegations of fraud and corruption and is awaiting a four-week trial scheduled to start on August 10, 2026.