The Ministry of Transport has set up an “independent process” to look at the handling of a $750,000 fraud case involving its former manager, turned convicted fraudster Joanne Harrison.
It includes allegations by two former ministry employees who say they lost their jobs after questioning some of the invoices Harrison was signing off, Stuff reports.
“I remember at the time I took the invoice to a woman who worked closely with Joanne Harrison, she was like Jo’s right-hand man … and I said to her ‘do you know what these people did for the ministry’? And she said ‘no I don’t,” they told Radio NZ.
“I also raised questions about it in a team meeting about this invoice at the time, I said ‘it’s a very unprofessional invoice’ and as it turned out this is one of the ones she used to embezzle a lot of money from the ministry.”
A ministry spokesman told Autotalk no further comment would be made until the independent process was complete.
Meanwhile, the State Services Commission has also confirmed it is considering a full inquiry into the fraud, which happened under the watch of former Ministry of Transport boss Martin Matthews, who is now the auditor-general.
Prime minister Bill English told Stuff he didn’t want to comment about the auditor-general.
However, he says the public service needs to have the “highest level of integrity”.
“I think it’s really important that the public have confidence in the capacity of the public service to pick up bad activity, that’s wrong or illegal, or even inappropriate.
“The State Services Commissioner has the obligation of making sure that is the case. Government is somewhat at arm’s length from those processes – they’re are purposely, by legislation, carried out by the public service, not by the politicians.”
Harrison received three years and seven months in prison.
