A former senior health employee has admitted corruption charges related to receiving $258,541 in payments from medical equipment and software supply companies, in a case brought by the Serious Fraud Office.
Former Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) senior manager Garry Gorham today entered guilty pleas to three charges of acceptance of gifts by an agent,related to receiving $223,112 from two companies: Alpine Medical Hardware Limited and Device Technologies New Zealand. Both companies supplied medical equipment to the ADHB.
Mr Gorham also pleaded guilty to one charge of disclosing official information on six occasions between 26 April 2012 and 6 August 2014 and receiving approximately $35,428 from Scotland-based company Newgate Technology Limited and/or NZ based company Technology Solutions Industry Limited, who provided medical software to ADHB.
In exchange for the payments, Mr Gorham assisted the companies with ADHB business and disclosed official information to one of the companies. Mr Gorham never disclosed to ADHB the payments that were made to him, despite being under an obligation to do so.
“New Zealanders must have confidence that procurement decisions in the public sector are not influenced by personal gain, particularly where health and safety could be impacted. Mr Gorham put his own financial interests above the patients he was employed to serve. This was an egregious breach of the trust placed in him by his employer and the public,” says SFO Director Karen Chang.
“Behaviour such as this undermines trust in our government and public services. It also distorts fair decision-making and results in an uneven playing field for other suppliers. It is critical we take action to stop it taking hold.”
Mr Gorham was convicted on all charges and is scheduled to appear for sentencing on 10 August 2026.
