Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
In June, the Cerebral Palsy Society cut services and staff, surprising members. The society threatened members and removed staff that spoke out.
The former board of one of the country’s richest charities, tasked with helping those with cerebral palsy, loaned millions to property companies that have failed to provide a return for the charity despite using the money to invest in Auckland’s red-hot housing market. Questions are being raised by charity members and experts over the deals, which saw the former Cerebral Palsy Society president and a colleague paid tens of thousands of dollars in fees for masterminding and managing the arrangement, which appears to have left a $2m hole in the society’s finances as services were cut to those most in need.