Over 100 computers belonging to the Inland Revenue Department have mysteriously disappeared, prompting fears that taxpayers' personal files have been exposed.
The computer mystery was discovered during the IRD's annual audit of itself when it found that 106 laptops could not be accounted for.
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne is playing it down the problem, despite the fact that no-one knows where they have gone.
Meanwhile, his response is not sitting well with critics
"If you were to go to the IRD and say 'look I'm sorry I've misplaced $200,000 somewhere in my cash flow but don't worry about it, it's perfectly normal', I don't think they'd take a very generous attitude toward you, and I don't think we should be letting them off the hook for this either," says National Party state services spokesperson Gerry Brownlee.
The immediate concern for the IRD is finding an explanation. They say the computers could have been out for repair, while others could not be positively identified.
"The serial number on the computer might have slipped off the back, you know the sticky bit might have just come off," says Dunne.
But the mystery throws up a bigger problem about thieves in
IRD's own ranks, although Dunne has dismissed this as "highly
unlikely" because the IRD runs a "very secure operation".
And just what is on those computers has also been raised as a
concern. But the Minister denies taxpayers' personal files are on
the hard drives.
The IRD says it will try harder to keep better tabs on
itself.
