Source: Radio New Zealand
Riki Toby, who was paid nearly $30,000 for overtime he did not do, said the offending started after going through a break-up, which put “extra financial pressure” on him. RNZ / REECE BAKER
A police staffer was caught claiming thousands of dollars of overtime he had not worked after he submitted a bogus timesheet that breached the rule for a 9-hour break between shifts.
Riki Toby, who was paid nearly $30,000 for overtime he did not do, said the offending started after going through a break-up, which put “extra financial pressure” on him.
He was eventually caught and charged with obtaining by deception and will be sentenced later this month.
RNZ used the Official Information Act information to ask what work police had done to prevent such offending occurring again, and how Toby’s offending was discovered.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
In response, senior professional conduct manager Inspector Anthony Tebbutt said the matter was identified when Toby, an Authorised Officer, submitted a time-sheet for a shift during the 2024-2025 New Year period.
“The submitted time-sheet related to a shift on which the former employee was not rostered, accrued statutory holiday hours, and constituted a breach of the 9-hour rule (less than a 9 hour break between shifts).
“As a result, the time-sheet was queried by the Workforce Management Team. That led to a review of recent ‘overtime’ claims submitted by the former employee which appeared to be falsified as there was no evidence that the former employee had actually worked.”
Tebbutt said those inquiries led to a criminal investigation.
He said it was recognised during the investigation that the review and approval of time-sheets for Toby was “substandard”.
“This has been addressed with the workgroup involved and clear expectations have been set.
“With a combination of new supervisors and a reduced reliance on casual Authorised Officers, oversight has been strengthened and the risk of these circumstances repeating in the future has been minimised. As an additional measure, audits of Authorised Officers’ timesheets will be completed into the future.”
The offending
Riki Toby was working as an Authorised Officer at the Kaitaia Police Station. RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Court documents earlier released to RNZ revealed Toby was working as an Authorised Officer at the Kaitaia Police Station.
The 32-year-old’s primary work involved processing and looking after people in police custody in the watchhouse or cell area at the station.
Toby worked a full-time, 10-day roster, which involved working six days followed by four days off.
Between 3 August 2024 and 22 December 2025, he submitted 42 time sheets claiming for extra days he had not worked.
“He did this by opening the Police system called ‘My Police’ and manually entering the shift he would represent that he had worked.
“These time sheets were approved by the custody Sergeant, who was unaware that the dates had not been worked.”
In total, Toby was paid an extra $29,000 for the 42 days.
“This was eventually picked up by the Sergeant, approving the defendant’s time sheets and an investigation was commenced.”
When questioned, Toby said he initially claimed for one extra shift that he had not worked and was not paid.
“He said that he then began claiming for shifts he hadn’t worked on a regular basis until this was picked up by the Sergeant, approving the time sheets and was declined.”
Police sought reparation for the money claimed.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) earlier released a summary of the investigation into Toby.
The IPCA said the sergeant in charge of checking the timesheets was unaware that the dates had not been worked until they became suspicious of the volume of overtime claimed.
“Police investigated and found sufficient evidence that the authorised officer had not worked the hours claimed in approximately 40 submitted timesheets.”
He resigned before police started an employment process.
“Police also investigated the process for approving timesheets and identified general process issues with how timesheets were reviewed and approved. Police have made several adjustments to procedures and staffing levels to reduce the risk of this happening again.”
The IPCA said it was “satisfied with the thorough police investigations” and agreed with the outcomes.
Northland District Commander Superintendent Matt Srhoj earlier said Toby’s behaviour was “totally unacceptable”.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand