Domestic violence prevention charity officers fraud alleged

AUCKLAND: Two former employees of a charity that offered domestic violence prevention services are facing fraud charges.

Tapualii Raewyn Uitime (47) and Betty Leuina Sio (54) entered no plea when they appeared at the Manukau District Court yesterday.

Ms Uitime, who was the operations manager at the now defunct Pacific Island Safety and Prevention Project, also known as the Project, faces 26 charges of dishonestly using a document and 11 charges of forgery.

Ms Sio, who was the charity’s chief executive, faces four charges of dishonestly using a document.

The Aucklandbased organisation received government funding for a range of social support services. They have been bailed to reappear in court later this month.

The Serious Fraud Office said the Pacific Island Safety and Prevention Project was a registered charity from June 2008 to March 2018.

The charity offered social support including family support, counselling, family violence education, domestic violence prevention programmes for men and a Pacific cultural framework for family violence.

By 30 June 2014, the Project was receiving government funding of about $2.5 million a year for domestic violence prevention services to the Pacific Island community.

Funding was provided by the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department of Corrections.