The director of ACK Contractors Limited, Colin Fitzgibbon, has been sentenced to nine months of home detention and ordered to pay $83,563.64 in reparations following a scheme to falsely generate invoices.

The Christchurch District Court issued the sentence on 31 October 2024 after Fitzgibbon admitted to creating fraudulent invoices totalling $668,392.95 to address cash flow problems in early 2020.

In 2018, Fitzgibbon’s company entered a financing agreement with Canterbury Invoice Finance Limited, trading as FIFO Capital, to sell invoices in exchange for immediate funds.

ACK Contractors, a road and civil works company founded in 2004, was actively engaged in the Christchurch Northern Corridor Alliance motorway project and held a maintenance contract with HEB Construction Limited for the Christchurch City Council in early 2020.

Between January and March 2020, Fitzgibbon submitted fraudulent invoices valued at over $668,000 to FIFO Capital, securing $535,665.05 in advances.

When receivers took over ACK Contractors in April 2020, both the CNC Alliance and HEB Construction indicated that the invoices were fictitious, revealing that no payments were due to ACK Contractors.

Vanessa Cook, National Manager of Criminal Proceeds Integrity & Enforcement, said Fitzgibbon’s scheme involved generating invoices based on projected work.

“He sold the invoices to FIFO Capital to receive immediate cash rather than waiting for the monthly payments.

This was pre-meditated, with Fitzgibbon aware of the potential for financial loss,” Cook said.

During sentencing, Judge GM Lynch acknowledged Fitzgibbon’s remorse, his participation in restorative justice, and his efforts to repay debts, which included selling his family home.

After auctioning off ACK Contractors’ equipment and making payments, the company still owes FIFO Capital approximately $90,000.

Members of the public can report potential breaches of the Companies Act through the Companies Office website.