Basketball: Stars at centre of charity cash dispute

Tab Baldwin. Photo / Greg Bowker

Suspended NBL club Auckland Stars were involved in a 2008 Internal Affairs investigation into the alleged misuse of a charitable grant.

Documents obtained by the Herald show that in 2005 the Trusts Charitable Foundation (TTCF) paid $210,000 to the Waitakere Basketball Association (WBA) to fund a youth education programme.

The Stars received $150,000 of the money, in return for which players and coaches visited Waitakere schools to preach an anti-crime message.

An audit by TTCF found discrepancies between the number of hours billed and those actually delivered during the programme. The WBA claimed 4200 hours had been delivered, however the TTCF audit believed the actual figure was 894.

A subsequent Internal Affairs investigation found insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges but did highlight a host of issues including:

* An inconsistency between the number of hours attributed to the programme and the number delivered;

* Important documents had been contaminated prior to being handed to the investigator;

* Stars representatives ignored repeated requests to meet with the investigator to clarify who had drawn up invoices;

* An allegation that people involved in the grant process knew the money would be used to "bring a team to Trusts Stadium".

In 2005, the Stars changed their name to Auckland Stars Waitakere and shifted from their traditional home in Kohimarama to Waitakere's Trusts Stadium.

While the investigation was unable to determine that the entire grant was correctly used, there was insufficient evidence to justify any criminal proceedings.

Stars owner Tab Baldwin said the club had been cleared of any wrongdoing. A part-owner at the time, he had been overseas during the investigation and didn't know club officials had ignored repeated requests to meet with the investigator.

"I didn't even know that," Baldwin said. "I don't know the answer to [why] now. I asked [then Stars manager Theo Tait] and he said he didn't know. He didn't know that we hadn't met with the Internal Affairs people. What he did know was that when we presented our documentation to the TTCF that was the end of it. We weren't requested to be a part of anything else.

"What I was told was that the dispute between the hours was resolved. I don't know why it is not resolved in the report."

Baldwin pointed out that the other issues highlighted in the report applied directly to the WBA and had nothing to do with the Stars.

"We were simply a contractor to the WBA.

"We had people in schools in [Stars] uniforms talking about drugs, talking about tagging, talking about staying in schools - all the things that the Learn4Life programme was designed to do. The TTCF had questions about Waitakere [basketball] and where the money had gone. We were drawn into it, we presented our case and that was the end of it."

Using grant money to pay players for working on community projects instead of a straight salary for playing basketball is commonplace among NBL clubs. But the revelation of the 2005 funding dispute comes at a bad time for the Stars as the club petitions the NBL Board to allow its return to this year's league.

With the competition set to start in just six days, the prospect of that happening appears extremely unlikely.

The Stars' sole contracted player, Hayden Allen, has been playing with champions Waikato in pre-season matches. Sources close to Allen said he jumped ship after the Stars failed to honour his first salary payment.

Baldwin confirmed Allen had not been paid but said the veteran guard's pay had been docked after he breached his contract by attending just two of 13 pre-season practices. Allen was still a Stars player and the club had no intention of releasing him from his contract.