Former mayoral candidate under investigation in relation to fake ACC claims

Former Tauranga City councillor Murray Guy says he did not injure himself removing an election hoarding after the local body elections in July 2024.

But according to an ACC investigator who called him, a claim had been made on his behalf for a shoulder injury in July 2024.

Guy told NZME that claim was made by physio and former The Opportunity Party and mayoral candidate Andrew Caie.

Guy said the ACC investigator told him that 13 treatments were recorded as being provided to him, allegedly by Caie.

“I was blown away to get that phone call from the investigator and just how silly some people are.

“Needless to say there was no shoulder injury and certainly no treatment nor any contact,” Guy said.

Guy was a Tauranga City councillor from 2001 to 2013 and said he was well known in the community, but had not met Caie before.

He said Caie may have posted on his Facebook page but has since been banned.

Guy is not the only person to have reportedly received a call from ACC’s investigator.

Another woman told Chris Lynch Media she received a similar call and then asked Caie on social media why he had used her name.

He allegedly replied: “got desperate, made a dumb mistake, sorry about that, I regret my actions”.

When NZME contacted Caie’s lawyer Hannah Stuart she said the matter was under investigation so she could not comment.

Stuart would not elaborate on which agency was doing the investigation.

Police referred NZME to ACC. An ACC spokesperson said it was aware of the allegations but could not comment further.

ACC pays a fixed contribution to physios for eligible accident-related injuries, though it does not cover the full cost of treatment. The patient pays the rest.

Former Tauranga City counciller Murray Guy. Photo / File

The Health Practitioners Disability Tribunal, which these cases usually come before, said it did not have a charge against Caie.

“It may be that this matter is progressing through the Physiotherapy Board Professional Conduct Committee process that will determine whether or not a charge will be laid before us.”

A spokesperson for the board said it did not comment on ongoing complaints or investigations, potential complaints or investigations, or on whether an individual practitioner has a complaint made against them.

Caie stood for Tauranga Mayor in the 2024 local body election as well as the Te Papa ward.

He was unsuccessful in both.

In the 2020 general election, he stood for the Opportunity Party but was ranked 16th on the party list and failed to enter Parliament.

The number of fraud investigations launched by ACC had increased from two in the 2023 calendar year to 24 in 2025 and it initiated three prosecutions related to fraud in 2025.

In the eight months to the end of August this year, it had launched 38 investigations.

Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.