The Serious Fraud Office says it has charged four people for allegedly manipulating Westland District Council's procurement process for financial gain.

The charges relate to three procurement processes including the Franz Josef wastewater treatment plant design and build contract.

The SFO says Vivek Goel (42), who was a member of the Westland District Council’s executive team, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of ‘Corrupt use of official information’ under section 105A of the Crimes Act 1961 and two charges of ‘Obtaining by deception’ under section 240. Mr Goel was the council’s group manager of district assets at the time of the alleged offending and was involved in overseeing the local authority’s procurement processes.

It says Neha Bubna (36) has pleaded not guilty to one charge of ‘Corrupt use of official information’ and one charge of ‘Obtaining by deception’.

The two other defendants, who have interim name suppression, have not entered pleas.