Auckland Company Director Gets Home Detention for $18k Wage Subsidy Fraud

Musabayoufu Fuati, also known as Alex Fu, appeared for a three-day jury trial on 20 October 2025 and was sentenced by District Court Judge William Lawson on 6 March 2026. 

Judge Lawson said Luati’s degree of culpability was high – he had stolen from the community which was “totally unacceptable” and “knew he had no right to the funds”. 

Fuati was the sole director of TRIPNZ Group Ltd (formerly known as Wanda New Zealand Ltd) and was found guilty of one charge of dishonestly using a document. 

The Crown case was that on 6 April 2020, Fuati submitted a wage subsidy application listing himself and two others as employees of the company. 

The company was not trading, and none of the individuals named in the application were entitled to receive any wage subsidy support. 

The application was approved under MSD’s COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme, which was designed to get urgent financial support to businesses struggling during the pandemic in order to prevent job losses. 

Rather than using the funds for wage payments as required, Fuati transferred the money into a personal bank account, and then on to different accounts. 

When contacted by MSD in December 2020, Fuati stated only that the company was no longer trading and made no further comment. 

A total of 59 people have been sentenced in wage subsidy cases, and another 47 people are still before the courts as part of MSD’s programme of work on wage subsidy fraud and integrity. Since the scheme started, more than $830 million* in wage subsidies has been repaid. 

For more information about the Wage Subsidy Integrity and Fraud Programme please see here. 

*Figures at 31 December 2025