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A former ACC staff member has been referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) following concerns about the lease arrangements and purchase of buildings for ACC offices.
ACC Minister Nick Smith said when he took on the portfolio he was concerned ACC was paying very high costs for accommodation.
He raised the concerns and ACC initiated a formal review.
Concerns over the former staff member arose out of the review.
Smith told reporters the issue involved property transactions and government agencies, including ACC, were involved with "large" property dealings.
It involved problems in a number of different centres in New Zealand going back many years.
He had no estimates of the sums of money involved and did not want to speculate.
One staff member had been dismissed for failing to follow policies and procedures, but Smith did not know if anyone else was involved.
The concerns about property dealings go back "many years" because the staff member involved was an employee of ACC for a "good period".
The public has a right that government agency property deals be done "with the highest levels of integrity", Smith said.
"I refused last year to open ACC's new offices in Nelson because of information I had that the taxpayer had not got good value for money.
"Information has come forward that is of sufficient concern that the corporation has decided to refer the matter to the serious fraud office."
Smith said he was first aware of the serious concerns a month ago and he wanted the SFO to be able to investigate without speculation.
It was up to the SFO whether criminal charges were laid, he said.
ACC had managed the issue "as well as they are able".
"It's a huge disappointment to the corporation that they have had to go to this step of laying a complaint with the serious fraud office."
There may need to be a fresh look at ACC's internal audit systems following any SFO investigation, Smith said.
"In the meantime the important thing is the SFO is given the space to properly do their inquiry and to ensure if there has been wrong doing appropriate action is taken."
SFO director Adam Feeley confirmed it had received a complaint and would be carrying out an initial investigation.
It was too early to say how long the investigation may take, he told NZPA.
The case would be given the "highest priority" because it involved a public official.
It was unclear what the sums of money involved were but they could still prove to be significant. That would form part of the initial investigation.
The SFO investigates two types of cases, large scale (over $10 million) fraud involving investor losses and allegations of bribery, or corruption involving a public official. The ACC case fell into the latter.
ACC chief executive Jan White said while investigating a staff member's failure to follow internal policies and procedures other matters of concern were uncovered.
"Owing to the nature, potential scale and duration of those matters we believed it was appropriate to refer them to the SFO."
ACC would now wait until the SFO told them if a formal investigation was warranted.
The State Services Commission, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of Labour and Auditor General had been informed.
"Given that this situation is being considered by the SFO, ACC will not be making any further public comment at this stage," White said.
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