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Ryan Bridge: How was a former Covid response lead able to steal $1.8 million?
This story should shock everybody, but it won't. Sadly.
The headline? Former Covid response lead Alister Thorby stole $1.8 million from DHBs.
From us, taxpayers.
This guy was 25 and yet somehow in charge of the DHBs’ response to the Covid pandemic in the Lower North Island.
He stole almost $2m over five months. He bought cars, holidays, a house.
He was an MIQ boss. He submitted invoices for work that never happened. One invoice was for $300k. Two of the companies he invoiced for didn't even exist.
Now, this is bad for two reasons:
1. How on earth does some 25-year-old who's been in the job…
The skinny
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