Lawyer accused of forging SFO email

Anita Killeen - photographed at the SPCA with bull terrier Charlie - will appear in court next week. Photo / Supplied

The Serious Fraud Office's former chief prosecutor will face charges next week after allegedly forging documents in an apparent bid to make her ex-boss look bad.

It is understood 35-year-old Auckland barrister Anita Killeen will appear in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday charged with forgery, using a forged document and recklessly damaging a computer system.

The charges are believed to be in relation to forged documents sent to the media this year in an attempt to make SFO boss Adam Feeley look bad during a time when he was already facing negative publicity.

Ms Killeen, who had been at the SFO for at least seven years, lost her job last year after a restructuring period that started after Mr Feeley took over as director.

He came under fire last month after the Weekend Herald revealed how he celebrated the laying of criminal charges against Rod Petricevic by drinking champagne belonging to Bridgecorp directors with his staff.

The story was based on an email written by Mr Feeley and sent to staff saying it had been "a fantastic week" because of the prosecutions against Bridgecorp and other high-profile investigations, including one of Five Star Finance.

Mr Feeley defended sending the email, saying: "I would struggle to think that any reasonable person would consider a $70 bottle of wine an outlandish recognition."

The SFO boss was reprimanded by the State Services Commission, but escaped serious censure for the actions.

Soon after, the Herald and the National Business Review received a hard copy of another email allegedly written by Mr Feeley.

The contents of the email would have further tarnished his image, but Mr Feeley denied having written it and an investigation into its origins began.

The Herald understands the charges Ms Killeen faces relate to this second email.

The matter was also referred to the police, who yesterday served the Herald with a search warrant seeking the original champagne email, the allegedly forged email and an anonymous letter which accompanied the second email.

The warrant was served in relation to "an offence of Used a Forged Document and Damaging or Interfering with a Computer System".

The anonymously sent items were handed over to the police, as doing so did not risk revealing Herald sources.

Police and court staff yesterday confirmed Ms Killeen was to appear in court next week but would not confirm the charges she was facing.

The SFO did not respond to queries yesterday, and Ms Killeen could not be reached for comment.