{"id":402005,"date":"2026-04-28T19:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/402005\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T19:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T19:42:09","slug":"the-all-black-the-internet-start-up-and-the-purported-stacks-of-cash-and-vatican-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/402005\/","title":{"rendered":"The All Black, the internet start-up, and the purported stacks of cash and Vatican millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m completely aware of the creditors that we have and payments outstanding. But we do have a plan about what we\u2019re doing and we haven\u2019t stopped fundraising,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"DiarmuidDiarmuid Hudner, the founder and group chief executive of CyberSmarties, says he “refutes” the allegations but acknowledges unpaid debts.<\/p>\n

Wellington-based Aisling Waldron, formerly the leader of digital safety at the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), was headhunted by Hudner in early 2025 to head global monitoring at CyberSmarties, but later found herself becoming chief whistleblower.<\/p>\n

Hudner had presented a report to the DIA claiming CyberSmarties had a million users and was a solution to the growing problem of youth harm caused by social media use.<\/p>\n

He claimed to be endorsed by the Irish police and prominently used the Garda crest on his website and in company documents \u2013 an endorsement the Garda told the Herald had lapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was led to believe that it was a really robust company that had users across the world,\u201d Waldron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really flattered, this sounded like an incredible company and he seemed to be a really successful businessman, really well-connected. Seemed to know his stuff,\u201d Waldron said of Hudner.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I met, any people working in the online safety space, friends, family, my husband and every single person just said, \u2018you\u2019d be crazy not to take it\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She signed on for an agreed \u20ac100,000 ($198,202) salary, soon bumped up to \u20ac150,000.<\/p>\n

And then the cracks started appearing.<\/p>\n

In the middle of last year, newly-hired staff, including Waldron, found their salaries weren\u2019t going through and attempts to chase this up with Hudner were met with an increasingly bewildering series of stories about imminent billions.<\/p>\n

The Herald gained access to over a thousand internal and external company communications, including executive group WhatsApp chats and emails, that show Hudner spent six months in 2025 putting off paying staff and other creditors while chasing a range of extraordinary investment deals that can at best be described as hopeful.<\/p>\n

There was a signed \u201cLetter of Intent\u201d said to show the Portuguese Government was to invest \u20ac1.3 billion to buy 45% of the company. That document, shown on a video call to staff, records the counterparty as an individual living in Luxembourg who the Herald has been unable to find on LinkedIn or corporate databases.<\/p>\n

Another purported deal saw Hudner send four pictures of stacks of used Indian bills tied together with multi-coloured rubber bands.<\/p>\n

This was said to be a downpayment on a purported \u00a3375 million investment being made by an Indian telecommunications giant.<\/p>\n

\"ImagesImages of Indian cash shared by Diarmuid Hudner to Cybersmarties staff purporting to show the downpayment on an imminent \u00a3375m investment into the company. The cash never arrived.<\/p>\n

Waldron said at the time, in response to the images Hudner posted: \u201cJesus Christ, that looks like an illegal drug deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there was a proposed \u20ac150m contract with the Crown Prince of Bahrain \u2013 staff were told they\u2019d have to imminently fly to Manama for \u201cprotocols\u201d \u2013 and \u20ac15m was due from the Vatican Bank.<\/p>\n

None of these \u201cinvestment deals\u201d culminated and staff remained unpaid.<\/p>\n

Waldron resigned in October after not being paid a cent in salary for six months of work.<\/p>\n

Hudner insisted all the proposed deals were legitimate, but declined to discuss details.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor NDA [non-disclosure agreement] reasons, I can\u2019t discuss individual investment discussions. I\u2019m not allowed to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hudner denied he traded while insolvent and said he had only erred by scaling up in good faith \u2013 and hiring staff like Waldron \u2013 in anticipation of receiving promised investment funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point in time, contracts have been signed … We went on full-scale on that basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But back to earlier in 2025, when Waldron was starting work: one of her first jobs was putting out a fire at Howlett\u2019s CSNZ.<\/p>\n

Internal company documents record concerns about posts by CSNZ users at Pak\u016branga Intermediate.<\/p>\n

Hudner told staff there had been a breakdown in monitoring and he was intending to close down Howlett\u2019s CSNZ: \u201cI will be axing him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe will be relieved of his duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chats record Hudner saying he followed through the following week in an \u201cawkward\u201d meeting with the former All Black.<\/p>\n

This week, Hudner backtracked from his earlier communications and said blame for problems at CSNZ was later apportioned to a \u201cnew monitoring staff member who didn\u2019t understand the platform properly\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that Howlett was a \u201cperson of very high ethical standards\u201d and he looked forward to continuing to work with him.<\/p>\n

\"DougDoug Howlett during his playing days. Howlett, a prolific winger for the All Blacks and Munster, set up the New Zealand franchise of CyberSmarties in 2022. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Howlett also had a distinctly different recollection of that period than portrayed in Hudner\u2019s contemporaneous messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been continuing on as normal for the last year or so, and in contact with Diarmuid around this, actually, so I\u2019m surprised to see that messaging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Howlett said CSNZ had gone into \u201chibernation\u201d around this time, given proposed social media bans in Australia, and later New Zealand, posed an existential threat to the CyberSmarties business model.<\/p>\n

Investigations by the Herald also show a significant part of CSNZ\u2019s business to date has been funded by Howlett\u2019s own charity \u2013 the Doug Howlett Outreach Foundation.<\/p>\n

Charities Register accounts filed for Howlett\u2019s foundation show its primary activity in recent years \u2013 $75,000 across 2023-24, accounting for 99% of expenditure \u2013 has been to fund CSNZ.<\/p>\n

Notes to the accounts state Howlett was a related party as a director of CSNZ, but do not disclose his management and shareholding.<\/p>\n

Charities Services registrations manager Metua Sadler said: \u201cThis matter has not previously been brought to our attention and we are therefore not in a position to comment substantively. While related-party transactions are not prohibited in themselves, care does need to be exercised to ensure they are managed within the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cAs this matter has now been brought to our attention, we will be looking into it to determine whether further inquiries are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howlett defended his charity\u2019s spending and said the conflict was properly declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s there in black and white,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can follow the paper trail \u2013 funds directly to the schools for the product and the schools benefited from this product. I can stand over this wholeheartedly that was for its purpose, which was to help New Zealand children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Howlett said recent heavy weather led him to compare his past and current careers: \u201cOh, look, it certainly has its challenges. There\u2019s times where, you know, I\u2019d love to just belt into people like I did on the field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"DougDoug Howlett presenting CyberSmarties NZ to the School Trustees Association conference in 2023.<\/p>\n

In Australia, a year before Waldron started at CyberSmarties, educator Shari Brewer and her partner inked a memorandum of understanding and paid A$100,000 ($121,000) \u2013 their life savings \u2013 to start the Queensland franchise of the company.<\/p>\n

She engaged lawyers to ensure a no-fault refund clause but, after suffering a family health crisis, elected to withdraw. She says she found difficulties in getting Hudner to repay them.<\/p>\n

Brewer said she was placated with claims of imminent Saudi or Turkish millions that ultimately never eventuated.<\/p>\n

Waldron said it was only in hindsight she could now properly recognise the situation she was in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that anyone can be a victim of these things, but you also never think it\u2019s going to be you. I think when you\u2019re in it, it\u2019s a little bit like a case of the frog and boiling water. If somebody presents you with all of it at once, of course, it looks fake, but when it\u2019s being drip-fed to you, it\u2019s so believable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waldron also contrasted the claimed million CyberSmarties users across a number of countries with what she found when given access to the company\u2019s back-end as head of global monitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a very, very bare-bones infrastructure. There were some users \u2013 I couldn\u2019t tell you the exact amount \u2013 I would say there were a hundred users in Ireland, across a handful of schools. No users in Turkey, none in India, none in the US. None in South America or South Africa. None in Australia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the number of New Zealand users were only \u201ca couple of hundred\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hudner said the \u201cmillion\u201d claim referred to users since the company\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been at this for 10 years, yeah, so, so it\u2019s the cumulative over 10 years that we\u2019ve had these numbers of users,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After leaving the company, Waldron started researching CyberSmarties and found a similar experience to hers \u2013 including Brewer \u2013 and the pair began to herd other CyberSmarties complainants from around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cAisling and I, I guess we sort of put the guts and the bones of this together, because we\u2019re stubborn bitches who went on a mission and we had permission from everyone else who said, \u2018yes, please, could you dig deep\u2019,\u201d Brewer said.<\/p>\n

The pair said during this process, they grew to distrust Hudner further.<\/p>\n

In April last year, Brewer was told by Hudner her refund had been delayed, again, this time by illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got double pneumonia and haven\u2019t been able to [do] much. I have to physically meet the accountant,\u201d Hudner said on WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

Three days later, with funds still not transmitted, he told Brewer: \u201cI will get sorted as soon as I can get up and down the stairs without stopping to catch breath.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when Brewer and Waldron began comparing stories, they realised their dealings with Hudner crossed over. The week of the double-pneumonia claim was the beginning of Waldron\u2019s employment with CyberSmarties, when she was in Limerick with her new boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met him in person. I was in Ireland for that first week I joined the company. He was perfectly fine. We had a great time: he was full of chat, we went out for lunch, he was absolutely in flying form,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hudner said he could not recall this particular bout of illness and his simultaneous time working and lunching with his new hire.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what I mean, just the thing is, I can\u2019t, I can\u2019t remember. I mean, I can\u2019t do it. I mean, I don\u2019t know. I can\u2019t recall it. I can\u2019t recall it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Waldron, Brewer and a number of other complainants in Australia and India have filed a criminal complaint of fraud with Irish authorities about Hudner and his company.<\/p>\n

The Irish police said: \u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na does not comment on named entities or persons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waldron and Brewer both said they have recently given statements to a detective.<\/p>\n

Hudner said he was unaware of the complaint and had \u201czero contact\u201d with authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure if they thought there was something incorrect or improper, you know, or inappropriate or anything like that, they\u2019d be at the door, and they haven\u2019t [been],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he understood the position of Waldron and Brewer, and their lack of trust in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand where that\u2019s come from. All I can do is continue to say this: once we have done that, they will get paid and [to] be honest, I would love that. I would love to have done that, like a year ago or whatever, it\u2019d be the first thing that I\u2019ll be doing, because I can do [it] without the pressure of it, with everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Waldron says she hopes going public, and to authorities, about her experience with CyberSmarties will result in justice being delivered. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Waldron said she hoped her complaint resulted in justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly cannot explain the detrimental impact this had on my mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. It completely destroyed me. I felt ashamed, stupid. I didn\u2019t want to leave the house,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt completely ruined me and it\u2019s only from connecting to other people and speaking out about it that I\u2019ve realised that there\u2019s at least 15 other people in the exact same position as me across multiple countries. And if I didn\u2019t speak out, I would have never connected with those people, and they would have never known that they weren\u2019t alone either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism \u2013 including twice being named Reporter of the Year \u2013 and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting for business newspapers and national magazines.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m completely aware of the creditors that we have and payments outstanding. But we do have a plan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1117,5263,95,1558,21715,26695,7022,138,6932,1061,207289,2740,140338,1437,359,2845,35145,1073,4380,111,139,69,1118,207288,207287,19328,19098,1072,89681,1037,42909,223,2743,69741],"class_list":["post-402005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-accused","tag-all","tag-and","tag-been","tag-billed","tag-bills","tag-black","tag-business","tag-cash","tag-children","tag-endorsements","tag-former","tag-fronted","tag-global","tag-internet","tag-leaving","tag-locally","tag-media","tag-millions","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-overstating","tag-purported","tag-reach","tag-safe","tag-social","tag-stacks","tag-startup","tag-string","tag-the","tag-unpaid","tag-vatican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}