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, holiday 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 just five months, bill $1.8m and get those invoices paid? That's criminal. Who signed off on the cheques? Who was in charge? It's outrageous. 

2. The timing. The Judge in this case points out the money went out the door at a time when the government was scrambling to deal with Covid. Except this guy was employed October 2021 to June 2022. 

We were letting DJs through the broader Rhythm and Vines by then. The wiggles were performing at Spark Arena. 

So that doesn't add up, in my mind. 

It wasn't panic stations. It was BAU by then. So, who was writing these cheques on our behalf? 

Something tells me this guy probably wasn't alone in taking the piss and taking us for a ride.

Give fraudsters an inch, they'll take a mile. 

This was, after all, peak Ardern/Hipkins money tap era. We were throwing money out the window like there was no tomorrow. 

Was this the tip of the iceberg and will anyone, other than the guy to duped us, be held responsible for the fact it was allowed to happen in the first place?