A former Te Papa employee has admitted to defrauding the museum of $122,067 over more than a year.
Former senior payroll officer Vera Karataua admitted to the fraud in the Wellington High Court in April, but it was only made public by the court on Sunday.
The fraud took place from December 2018 until March 2020 and was discovered after another staff member noticed discrepancies when Karataua was on leave.
Karataua was immediately suspended while an employment investigation was carried out and resigned soon after, the museum said in a statement on Monday.
The fraud involved Karataua creating false timesheets for casual staff for hours that had not been worked. She then diverted the payment to her own accounts, and altered casual employees' contact details so they would not receive pay slips.
As a result, IRD had incorrect records for around 28 casual staff, potentially affecting their tax bracket, or student loan or Kiwi Saver details. However, no money was taken from individuals, just the museum.
Another individual, who has name suppression, was alleged to be a beneficiary of the fraud. They are not a Te Papa employee and were only connected to the museum through Karataua.
Te Papa chief executive Courtney Johnston said the museum took the breach of trust extremely seriously.
"We are deeply disappointed by the betrayal of trust. The fraud was sophisticated, well-planned, and carefully covered up."
"Te Papa has controls in place to prevent fraud, and we have reviewed and tightened these after discovering this theft," Johnston said.
Te Papa is working with IRD to ensure that all these records are being corrected and none of the people affected are disadvantaged, she said.
KPMG is undertaking a forensic accounting review to fully understand the scope of the fraud.
The review isn't complete but a draft made several key recommendations including increased automation for casual timesheets, and enhanced checking of the payroll process.
Karataua has been ordered to repay all the money plus interests and costs by the court. She has also had her assets frozen.
On Monday, Police confirmed to Newshub that they received a complaint in relation to the fraud.
