The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating allegations that funds intended for Maori social services were invested in a South Auckland gay sex venue. The inquiry follows the December sacking of Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services (NISS) chief executive, Arapeta Hamilton, dismissed after a six-week independent financial audit of the Far North group's financial accounts. Kaikohe police decided the matter should be passed on to the SFO because the suspected fraud, alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2005, exceeded their scope, writes Jonathan Marshall in this morning’s Herald on Sunday. Sources close to the investigation which led to Hamilton's dismissal have confirmed that the NISS accounts showed the Kawakawa man was the owner of the failed Southside Cruise Club, a sex venue in a Manukau City warehouse where gay men would pay $10 to have sex. Math Enterprises, the owners of the Ash Rd premises, said they are owed $10,000 in rent and had enlisted a debt collector to chase Hamilton. The Whangarei District Court issued a judgment against Hamilton in March but he has not been found. Owner Barbara, who did not want her surname used, said Hamilton was upfront about his intentions to convert the large warehouse. "It was a night operation - he even painted over the skylights. We were told it was going to be a homosexual men's club. "The impression we got was that he was from a well-to-do family and we were told the club was funded with family money," she said. More on this story is on the link below. Related links: www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1 Ref: Herald on Sunday (m)