1.20PM: Whether the production of a Gay Guide to Auckland was the financial responsibility of the Auckland Pride Centre or of another company set up by its employee was one of the main issues under the microscope this morning in an increasingly complex fraud trial. An Auckland District Court jury is hearing allegations of fraud perpetrated in late 2003 and early 2004 by the Centre's paid coordinator Martin van der Reit, who is accused of misappropriating funds and falsifying a document. Taking the stand on day two of the trial, then-Pride trustee Suzanne Paul (who is not the infomercial queen) backed up co-trustee Edward Bennet's assertion yesterday that van der Reit's agreed annual salary was only $19,000 as a part time worker and not the $55,000 full time package he claims. She said the now-defunct Centre's finances were modest, "enough to keep going but I wouldn't call us wealthy." The defence this morning suggested that cheques in question were in fact written out by van der Reit to pay for expenses relating to the preparation of a planned series of Gay Guides to Auckland, only one of which was eventually printed. This was disputed by Paul and Bennett, who say the Guide was not a Pride Centre project, but rather was being run by a company called Pride Holdings, set up by van der Reit. They claim the Pride Centre had no financial involvement and was merely giving access to its database in return for promotional space in the publication. Bennett, however, admitted that he personally injected money into Pride Holdings as the project progressed, for which he received shares in the company. Paul says she declined a similar opportunity. The defence has also been suggesting that at the time of the alleged fraud there was a close personal relationship between Bennett and van der Reit, characterised by a shared Christmas Day and a combined trip to Wellington to attend a glbt function featuring Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen. Bennett says he merely visited van der Reit and his partner on Christmas Day for an hour and a half. He says the couple were new to New Zealand and knew few people. He told the court his ticket to Wellington was paid for by van der Reit but that that they did not travel together. Van der Reit faces seventeen charges of fraud to the extent of $35,000, and one charge of perverting the course of justice. The case continues this afternoon and is likely to extend through the rest of this week. GayNZ.com News staff will continue to post twice daily reports throughout the Auckland Pride Centre fraud case trial.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 13th November 2007 - 1:28pm