An Auckland woman who forged documents to steal public money from the charity she managed has been sentenced to two years and one month in jail.
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Tapualii Raewyn Uitime was sentenced today in the Manukau District Court on three representative charges of forgery and six representative charges of dishonestly using a document.
The Serious Fraud Office says Uitime defrauded the government-funded charity she ran of $260,000.
The charity, Pacific Island Safety and Prevention Project, has since closed.
Serious Fraud Office director Julie Read said the charity received most of its funding from the government.
She said Uitime used the funds for her own benefit, including on gambling.
"Ms Uitime abused her position of trust to steal a significant amount of public funds that were allocated for social support services, including family support, counselling and family violence education within the Pacific Island community in Auckland," Read said.
"The offending was not spur of the moment, but a course of conduct which continued over several years."
A co-defendant has pleaded not guilty to two charges and will appear in the Manukau District Court in January.