Awatere Huata getting legal aid in fraud fight

Former ACT MP Donna Awatere Huata and her husband, Wi Huata, are receiving legal aid in their fight against fraud charges, which are set down for trial from next week.

The Legal Services Agency, which administers the scheme that provides help for people unable to afford a lawyer, today confirmed Awatere Huata and her husband were getting legal aid.

At a depositions hearing in Auckland District Court last November, the pair were told there was sufficient evidence for them to stand trial.

A jury is expected to be chosen on Monday, but legal counsel for both defendants said the start of the case was likely to be postponed until the following week.

Huata's lawyer, Roy Wade, also said the number of charges to be faced had been reduced from the previous 19, with the exact total to be known when the indictments were read out in court.

At the depositions hearing, Awatere Huata faced 11 charges of fraudulently using a document and Huata six charges.

They each also faced one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The Serious Fraud Office alleged that the couple misused $95,000 of cheques from the taxpayer-funded Pipi Foundation between September 1999 and September 2003.

The cheques were allegedly used to pay for personal items such as Awatere Huata's stomach-stapling operation and their children's school fees.

Three months ago, the Supreme Court ordered Awatere Huata to pay $17,000 in costs following its earlier judgment that ACT was allowed to expel her from the party.

The court ruled in November that ACT could invoke party-hopping legislation to have her removed from Parliament, overturning a Court of Appeal decision.

A Legal Services Agency spokeswoman said the agency had gone to great lengths to ensure that the couple met the criteria for legal aid.

- NZPA