By PAUL YANDALL
Hamilton fire chief Grant Olsen conducted "sharp" financial practices and returned missing Fire Service money anonymously after a surprise audit of his office, says an auditor's report given to Parliament yesterday.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who tabled the report, said a "whistleblower" who had raised these issues was now being dismissed.
The service has maintained that an investigation of its Hamilton office in January revealed no evidence of fraud, despite concerns raised by a routine audit last year.
But the report, written by Fire Service auditor David Parsons, says Mr Olsen used service funds to buy personal goods, misused accounting records to conceal personal purchases, and made false accommodation and travel expense claims.
It says the audit found a shortfall of more than $900 missing over an 18-month period.
Some of that money was accounted for later and Mr Olsen returned $470 in an anonymous package labelled "the missing money" on January 14, leaving just $210 outstanding.
Mr Olsen said he was "gutted" that the report had been made public and that he was now in an "indefensible position" - having to respond to allegations that were found to be incorrect.
He said under-resourcing of his office had forced him to do tasks that were not part of his job description, such as banking and buying equipment. Mr Peters said it was hard to escape the conclusion that the whistleblower, former Hamilton Fire Service administration assistant Anita Garratt, was being dismissed for raising the issues.
She told the Herald that she was being punished for being honest. Anita Garratt would not say more because there is a confidentiality clause in an exit package being negotiated.
She said she had been suspended on full pay since July 13 after a minor workplace incident.
Fire Service spokesman Vince Arbuckle said the report represented only one step in the investigation, and the matter had been dealt with.
Heat on Hamilton fire chief over fraud claims
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