The verdict was handed down at about 10.35pm tonight after jurors spent more than ten hours deliberating.
Swann (47), the board's former chief information officer and Harford (48), a Queenstown surveyor, had both denied three charges each of dishonestly, and with intent to defraud, using 198 invoices in the name of Sonnford Solutions, a company set up by Harford, to obtain $16.9 million from the board between August 2000 and August 2006.
The Crown said the invoices were for various IT-related services and products never supplied, that Swann, without authorisation, signed contracts which were actually a sham, a fraud and made no sense.
The court has heard the board was charged for non-existent services, Swann receiving just over $15 million in six years, while the board was paying him an annual salary of $145,000 in his role as head of IT.
The remaining $1.8 million was retained by Harford.
