A Christchurch man faces 58 charges in relation to an alleged theft of over $200,000 in grant funding.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) announced on Tuesday, after inquiries from the Herald, that the alleged offending relates to charges of forgery, theft of grant funds and dishonestly using a document.

“We aim to ensure communities receive the maximum benefit from grants by detecting and deterring fraudulent activity in gambling-related grant funding”, DIA gambling director Dave Robson said.

The man, who was granted interim name suppression following inquiries from the Herald, was involved both in the Class 4 gambling sector and the community sports sector, obtaining $202,341.60 worth of grants on behalf of sporting organisations by allegedly submitting false quotes and failing to spend grant money on authorised purposes.

These incidents took place between 2018 and 2020. The man was remanded on bail and is due to appear in court again on July 12.

”While we cannot talk about the details of ongoing cases, DIA as the gambling regulator will not accept community money being misused or obtained for dishonest purposes,” Robson said.