Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand awarded Betty Sio of Auckland the Queen's Service Order for services to the Pacific Community at Government House in April 2011. Photo / Supplied

Woman fined for stealing from her own domestic violence charity

Author: Raphael Franks,
Publish Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2023, 3:52pm

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has fined a woman for faking invoices and stealing about $44,000 from a family violence prevention charity she founded and once headed.

Betty Sio was found guilty on two charges of dishonestly using a document to steal from her Pacific Island Safety and Prevention Project in March.

The SFO fined Sio $3000 for her part in siphoning about $260,000 from the charity in total.

Sio was chief executive of the charity, which got $2.5 million yearly funding from mostly the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections.

She helped start the charity and was chief executive from 2009 until 2015.

Sio and former operations manager Tapualii Raewyn Uitime were largely responsible for managing funds, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said.

The pair stole about $260,000 with fake invoices from suppliers and authorising cash cheques to pay them. Sio and Uitime cashed most of these cheques for themselves.

“Instead of using the funding given to the charity to make a difference to the lives of her community, Ms Sio abused her position of trust and responsibility to steal $44,000,” SFO director Karen Chang said.

“She also turned a blind eye to Ms Uitime, who stole around $216,000,” Chang said.

The charity was supposed to provide prevention, education, counselling and development services to Auckland’s Pacific Island community.

After Sio was initially found guilty, Chang said the offending “was prolonged ... over the course of years, and ultimately contributed to the closure of an organisation which had been recognised as providing a valuable and important service.”

Uitime was sentenced to two years and one month jail time in October 2020 after pleading guilty to three charges of forgery and six representative charges of dishonestly using a document.

Chang said the offending was “destabilising to our social fabric, damage[ing] trust in community leadership and institutions.

“Fraud that targets or disproportionately harms a particularly vulnerable community or group is a focus area for the Serious Fraud Office.

“Misappropriating government funding can also further exacerbate an issue and undermine government efforts,” she said.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.