BREACH OF TRUST ALLEGED

Evening Star, Issue 21628, 25 January 1934, Page 8

BREACH OF TRUST ALLEGED

CERTIFYING OFFICER CHARGED [Pek United Pbess Association.] GISBORNE, January 25. Charles Goldsmith appeared before Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Police Court this morning to answer a number of charges in connection with his duties as a certifying officer under the Unemployment Act. The accused, who is manager of the ,Waiapu Farmers’ Co-operative Company at Tikitiki, and was appointed certifying officer for the Native Department’s unemployment relief schemes early in 1932, appeared on sixteen charges—eight of obtaining sums of money from the Government with intent to defraud by means of false pretences, and eight of making false entries in material particulars in certificates of completion of work under the Native unemployment scheme. The Crown prosecutor (Mr F. A. Nolan) had charge of the prosecution, and Mr A. A. Whitehead appeared for the accused. After describing the accused’s duties as certifying officer under the Unemployment Act, Mr Nolan asserted that the practice followed by the accused was to inflate the cost of a job by the amount of loan money repayable to the Government by the owner of the property on which work was to be done. For example, in a job to cost £4O, £lO might he loan money, and the accused would inflate the contract and the balance to bo refunded to the Government as repayment of the loan. The refund actually-, therefore, was provided by the Government itself. Tu some cases it would be shown that Native labourers had not been paid in cash, but the money went to the Waiapu Farmers’ Company- to reduce the labourers indebtedness.