New Zealand has temporarily barred Fuji Xerox from accepting any new government work as investigations continue into a $450 million accounting scandal at the company’s Australasian subsidiaries.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) announced today that Fuji Xerox New Zealand (FXNZ) had agreed to a "voluntary suspension" from all current government contracts, meaning it won’t be able to bid on any new contracts in the public sector but must service existing deals.
"The ministry is concerned to ensure companies who supply the government are held to the high standards the public would expect," said an MBIE statement. The suspension will be reviewed in six weeks, after the publication of parent company Fujifilm's final report into what it describes as “irregular accounting practices.”
“This suspension has been agreed by FXNZ to allow the MBIE time to understand the implications of the final translated IIC report that Fujifilm Holdings will publish,” according to a statement from Fuji Xerox. “The voluntary suspension is effective immediately, with a review date 6 weeks from the date the final translated IIC report is available.”
The company says the suspension covers all new sales and marketing activities associated with the provision of services to eligible New Zealand Government agencies under Print Technology and Associated Services (PTAS), Print Devices and Print Device Management Services and Office Supplies contracts.
FXNZ wishes to advise that there are no current performance issues or inability to meet service levels under existing arrangements. FXNZ has the full resources and capabilities to meet all current needs, and there will be no disruption to eligible agencies who are already receiving products and services from FXNZ under the AoG contracts.
FXNZ will continue to proactively offer products and services to all other customers in the market place and is confident that it will be able to satisfy MBIE that the issues in question are historical and resume its usual business with eligible agencies in the near future.
“Fuji Xerox and our affiliates take the findings of the report very seriously, and we will reform our corporate structure through strengthening governance,” said Hiroshi Kurihara, global president of Fuji Xerox and a Fujifilm vice-president. “The commitment of the entire Fuji Xerox Group to the New Zealand Government remains strong and Fuji Xerox New Zealand has the full support of the whole Fuji Xerox.”
The NZ government spent $55 million with the company between 2012 and 2016, according to the MBIE.
Last month, an independent report found that FXNZ and Fuji Xerox Australia (FXA) had overstated revenues by $A450 and that a former managing director – later identified by NZ First Party leader Winston Peters as former FXNZ and FXA MD Neil Whittaker - was paid more than $1 million to leave the company.
New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office says it’s continuing to examine the situation and is obtaining “additional information.”