The Federal Court of Australia case management hearing in the Fuji Xerox 'accounting scandal' case, scheduled for 21st Sptember, has been brought forward to Wednesday 1st September in the WA branch of the Court. This tends to indicate that the settlement reached in the New Zealand jurisdiction, may be featured in the accelerated case management hearing. The NZ Serious Fraud Office investigation is still ongoing.
The case in Australia appears to be drawing to a conclusion with the accelerated case management hearing now on September 1st instead of 21st. If so, it will bring to an end almost five years of litigation between Fuji Xerox, Fuji Xerox Finance, global accounting/auditing giant Ernst & Young (EY), former FX Managing Director Neil Whittaker, finance chief Devlin Bell and EY partner EA Lang - who were the respondents but also became plaintiffs by lodging cross-claims against Fuji Xerox and also each other.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand SFO (Serious Fraud Office) is continuing its investigation into alleged fraud relating to Fuji Xerox NZ. This came about when a whistleblower, Tony Knight (not his real name), emailed Fuji Xerox executives in 2015 to first alert them about the accounting irregularities. Knight won a High Court appeal to keep his name secret.
Fujifilm worldwide has a strong whistleblower policy in place, saying: "Fujifilm firmly believes that those who reasonably suspect or witness misconduct should be able to report their suspicions with the confidence that they will be supported, and not punished or discriminated against for making a disclosure."
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| Winston Peters |
The NZ situation differed from Australia in that the scandal reached all the way to the top echelons of government, with former Deputy Prime Minister and at times Acting Prime Minister under the first Ardern coalition government, Winston Peters, being particularly outspoken in Parliament, at one time stating: "Insiders have come to New Zealand First (Peters' political party), to say it was the Wild West. Sales staff wrote and approved their own contracts. Print volumes, even from schools, were ‘hydraulicked’ to extort money from its own finance wing. Copier sales staff became multimillionaire property developers. The Lamborghini dealers smiled." Peters also claimed that FXNZ had 'fleeced' the New Zealand government over the years and that it was a "stain on the country."
Praise for Fujifilm's handling
In late 2017, FXNZ was suspended from all-of-government contracts in New Zealand. This suspension was lifted in July 2019 but Peters still had reservations, but commended Fujifilm's Japanese head office for the actions it had taken, telling the New Zealand Herald: "Fuji Xerox (sic) Japan had made a very 'fulsome, unreserved apology' to the New Zealand government and taxpayers, before any completion of the Serious Fraud Office's investigation.
He added: "They'd obviously conducted their own investigation. This is such a rare thing for international corporations to do that - one should commend it when it does happen."
Mr Peters is no longer part of the NZ coalition government since his party fell below the required 5% threshold of votes at the last election, but continues to lead the New Zealand First party and will contest the 2023 elections.
The tendering process for New Zealand government-related copier and printing supply has been completely revamped.
