June 14, 2010
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New Zealand Frets Over Credit Card Sandals, Pt.2
A Christmas ham outrages a town.Manukau's Mayor Len Brown continues to push back as new allegations of credit card fraud have surfaced involving a member of his staff. According to a release in the Sunday Star Times, a restaurant employee alleged that a member of Brown's staff asked the restaurant if it would prepare a bogus credit card receipt that excluded alcohol purchases. The restaurant is one that Mr. Brown frequented. The council denied that any such incident occurred and it is considering taking legal action against the restaurant. The credit card transaction in question occurred last September at the Volare Italian Restaurant for $810. The item was reported as a business expense and is said to have been a fundraiser that was attended by council staff and community members.
Despite denials by the Mayor, Council Chief Executive Leigh Auton issued a statement to the Sunday Star Times saying that a staff member had indeed approached the restaurant; however, it was to correct a credit card receipt to include the GST number that had been inadvertently omitted from the original receipt. Furthermore, Auton noted that the restaurant was never asked to omit any details from the original receipt. Additionally, Auton commented that council staff contacted several businesses to acquire credit card receipts that were discovered missing during a routine internal audit. He maintained that at no time was there any request to make up bogus receipts.
A Christmas ham also became part of the controversy. In December 2008, Brown charged the ham to his government card because he said he and his wife only had one card and she was in possession of it at the time he picked the ham up. He used the government card; however, he said he reimbursed the government the following month in January 2009. However, no record could be found covering the reimbursement and so Brown said he paid for the ham again in March 2010. Meanwhile Brown continues to be outraged over the accusations of credit card fraud and said it was “appalling” and said that both he and the council take the allegations seriously and are considering taking legal action. He did not expound on any other details.