The Serious Fraud Office says it is considering the findings of an investigation into Paul Eagle over his time at Chatham Islands Council.

The Auditor General found the former Labour MP misled an official probe into his “excessive” spending as Chatham Islands Council chief executive, by creating his own financial records.

Eagle, a former Wellington mayoral candidate and two-term Rongotai MP, resigned as CEO of the council last month, saying he is sorry for his shortcomings and he “panicked” when questioned during the investigation.

Paul Eagle misled Auditor-General over investigation into his spending at Chatham Islands Council
  
The Auditor General said it had “not reached a view on the legality of the chief executive’s actions”.

Now, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has taken notice.

“The SFO has noted the published report and will consider the matters raised by the OAG [Office of the Auditor General],” a spokeswoman for the office said.

Paul Eagle was Labour MP for Rongotai for two terms from 2017-2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he had requested advice from officials, who he said are “closely examining the report to determine what action or oversight may be necessary”.

“This is a very serious matter, and the community deserves accountability,” he said.

‘Unacceptable’, ‘misleading’: What the investigation found

Much of the report centres around the spending of council money on Eagle’s council-owned residence on the Chatham Islands.

It found Eagle, who took on the role in 2023 after an unsuccessful mayoral bid, was wrong to oversee the project to upgrade the property, because he stood to benefit from the spending.

The costs increased after Eagle took control of the project, including him purchasing premium German appliances for the kitchen, and continuing work on converting the garage to guest accommodation even after his council said no.

The project’s budget ballooned to $460,000.

The report also probed consultant spending by Eagle, including a failure to manage a conflict of interest when his wife was proposed to be hired as a sub-contractor.

Eagle engaged with consultancy services with a supplier he had a “pre-existing connection” with, and was not transparent with his council about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consulting services.

Paul Eagle, a former Wellington Deputy Mayor, ran for the Wellington mayoralty in 2022, losing to Tory Whanau. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Throughout the investigation, Eagle provided documents which had been “altered or created” by him to paint an inaccurate picture of his spending, including adding another person’s signature to them, the report said.

While he initially claimed the quotes and contracts were made by others, he later changed his position and said he made the documents himself.

“Rather than provide an accurate record of events, the information that the chief executive provided was misleading, specifically, it created an incorrect picture about when certain events occurred (for example, when a contract was signed) or whether they had happened at all.

“We consider that the chief executive’s actions were unacceptable and demonstrated exceptionally poor practice and judgment”.

In a letter attached to the report, Eagle said he acknowledged the serious issues identified.

“While I do not agree with everything in the draft report, I accept and take ownership of the concerns about my performance and apologise for any impact it might have.”

Eagle said that because he was required to start in the role earlier than anticipated, due to illness of the outgoing chief executive, he “did not receive a formal, structured induction process covering the policies, processes, systems and documentation expected of the role”.

Eagle declined to comment when the Herald visited his Wellington home on Friday .

Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.