Medical equipment company director sentenced in SFO bribery and corruption case

A director and shareholder of a medical equipment company has been sentenced in the Auckland District Court in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) bribery and corruption case.

Mr William MacKenzie was sentenced to four months community detention for giving gifts to an agent. Mr MacKenzie pleaded guilty on 5 May of making payments to a former senior Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) manager in order to secure contracts to supply medical equipment.

The relationship between the senior ADHB manager, who was responsible for placing many orders with Mr MacKenzie’s company, Alpine Medical Hardware Limited (Alpine), was not disclosed. Between September 2008 and October 2015, Mr MacKenzie arranged for Alpine to make 28 payments totalling $170,214.95 to the manager.

The payments were made as inducements or rewards for the manager to act in Alpine’s favour – including placing orders with the company and approving its invoices. These payments were never disclosed to ADHB, despite the manager being under a legal and contractual obligation to do so.

The SFO’s investigation found that between January 2001 and June 2007, ADHB paid Alpine approximately $52,000 per year. After the senior manager started working at ADHB in 2007, the ADHB paid Alpine approximately $400,000 per year until 2016.

SFO Director Karen Chang, says, “Corruption involving public officials undermines trust in government and distorts fair decision-making. In this case, public funds intended to support patient care were compromised by an undisclosed financial relationship.

“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 second defendant, the former ADHB manager, has pleaded not guilty to fraud and corruption charges, with a four-week trial commencing 10 August 2026.