Witness admits defrauding Pipi

The former chairwoman of the Pipi Foundation and a key prosecution witness in the case against Donna Awatere Huata and her husband Wi Te Tau Huata admitted in the Auckland District Court yesterday taking money from the foundation before fraudulently using 40 foundation cheques.

The witness, Katherine Skipworth, spent most of the day being cross-examined by Paul Davison, QC, acting for the couple in a depositions hearing held to determine if they should go to trial.

Under questioning from Mr Davison in the Serious Fraud Office prosecution, Mrs Skipworth said "apparently" she was the secretary, treasurer and chairperson of the foundation but in reality was only a name on a piece of paper.

She signed documents she never read, used correcting fluid on entries she made in the foundation ledger, before she discovered the practice was not allowed, and gambled on poker machines.

Awatere Huata, 55, faces 11 charges of fraudulently using a document and Wi Huata, 43, faces six charges. Each defendant also faces one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Awatere Huata, a former Act party member of Parliament but now an independent, is in court with her husband accused of obtaining thousands of dollars from the Pipi Foundation. It is alleged the couple used fraudulently obtained money to pay for a stomach stapling operation for Awatere Huata, and their children's school fees.

Mrs Skipworth said when the Pipi Foundation was formed she was asked to become chairwoman. It did not strike her as odd it never held meetings. If there were meetings they were held individually between Awatere Huata, her husband and other foundation members.

She said when she got the foundation ledger she had to bring it up to date, covering 12 to 18 months.

Mrs Skipworth told Mr Davison it might have been six to eight months.

"I'm guessing a lot of the dates."

Mr Davison: "Will you tell me in future when you are guessing so we can make a note of it?"

Mrs Skipworth: "Yes, sir."

When Mr Davison asked her about letters between the foundation and the Ministry of Education seeking funds for a reading programme and whether the letters were sent between May and August 1999 she replied: "Correct. Yes ... I'm just guessing."

Mrs Skipworth said she was a name on a piece of paper.

"A lot of documents I signed I never read. It was very naive of me but I did it."

Mr Davison said there were quite a lot of corrections in the ledger.

Mrs Skipworth replied she used correcting fluid a lot because she made a lot of mistakes. She said she tried to be as accurate as possible but agreed she made some entries knowing they were false.

She agreed she had pleaded guilty to using 40 foundation cheques that had been mistakenly delivered to her after she left the foundation in May, 2002.

Mrs Skipworth said during 2000 she was taking money from the foundation by changing cheques so they could be cashed. She was not sure how many times she did it but, asked for an estimate, she said four times.

Asked by Mr Davison why she took the money, Mrs Skipworth said she did not know.

Mr Davison said she was spending some time gambling.

She said she had been working 12 hours a day and had little time to herself.

The hearing, before Justices of the Peace Ross Familton and Don Harrow, will continue today.