Sean Bryan and Mark Lester paid and received more than $4 million in kickbacks while contracting for Spark. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
Two IT contractors have been sentenced to three years in jail, in New Zealand's largest corruption case involving a publicly listed company.
Australian citizens Sean Bryan and Mark Lester pleaded guilty last year to paying and receiving more than $4 million in kickbacks while contracting for Spark New Zealand.
The charges were first filed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in April 2023 and the pair were sentenced in the High Court in Auckland today.
In 2013, Lester was contracted by Spark to oversee testing associated with a major upgrade to it's customer services IT platform and over time was given more responsibility and promoted into a senior technology role.
Lester recommended to Spark that they use Bryan's company, Victory IT, to assist with testing upgrades to the IT platform.
Despite Lester and Bryan knowing each other outside of their work, their relationship was never disclosed.
Based on Lester's recommendations, Victory IT continued to receive contracts and was paid about $20.7 million between March 2014 and June 2017.
Between June 2014 to May 2017, Bryan made 32 payments totalling approximately $4.1 million from his company (Victory IT) to Lester.
The individual payments had no commercial basis and ranged in value from $10,500 to $379,500 and were made in return for Lester promoting Bryan's interests.
SFO director Karen Chang said it was New Zealand's largest ever private sector corruption case involving a publicly listed company.
"It sends a clear warning about the real risks corruption poses. These risks include, harming the integrity of our business environment, reducing competition and lowering investor confidence.
"While this particular case does not involve foreign bribery, it highlights the behaviours the SFO's latest campaign is targeting and reinforces why we must protect New Zealand's reputation as a safe, trusted place to do business.
"We rely on people and corporates coming forward and speaking up when they see wrongdoing, it's a crucial part of how we uncover and address serious fraud and corruption in New Zealand. Our message is simple, if you see something report it," she said.
Spark has pursued a civil case against Lester and Bryan to have the money repaid.
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