A high-profile Wellington hospitality leader has appeared in court on serious fraud charges. 

Matt McLaughlin appeared in the Wellington District Court on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to two charges of obtaining by deception over $1000 and two charges of breaching the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010. 

McLaughlin’s business, Hoff Hospitality Group, also faces the same charges. The business was the parent company for local bars Four Kings, Jack Hacketts, Danger Danger, and Dirty Little Secret, though some have been sold. He also owns Panhead Tory.

A former Wellington City Council hopeful, McLaughlin has owned bars in the city for many years and has been a vocal proponent for the capital’s hospitality industry. He has previously held the position of Hospitality New Zealand branch president. 

He has been a key player in the Pōneke Promise- a social contract between the city’s hospitality industry, retailers, police and councils to take collective action to address safety issues in Wellington’s CBD. 

He has also been involved in “Don’t Guess the Yes”- a campaign to help prevent sexual violence in the city. 

He announced last year he was running for council in the 2022 local body elections. 

McLaughlin said at the time if he had a seat at the council table, he would have a stronger voice and greater ability to drive change. 

He said the current council was “massively dysfunctional”. 

“We’ve got a lot of people that sit around the table and they’re just bickering at each other and they don’t have Wellingtonians at heart and in the forefront of their thoughts, which is all wrong. Party politics should not form part of what our Wellington City Council adheres to.” 

McLaughlin will next appear in court in January. 

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.