A DAY after being sent an email telling her the costs of attending a conference would be met by its organiser, the then chief executive officer of the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation (RivMed) claimed reimbursement also from her organisation, Wagga Local Court has been told.
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The allegation of double dipping against former Rivmed boss Selena Lyons was aired by prosecutor Caroline Dobraszczky on the fourth day of a hearing into 28 fraud charges being defended by Lyons.
It is alleged Lyons dishonestly obtained just over $31,000.
It is alleged Lyons repeatedly claimed reimbursement for travel, accommodation and meals for attending meetings of organisations of which RivMed was affiliated when she had clear knowledge those costs would be or had been paid by those organisations.
The court on Thursday heard that a staff member of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AMHRC) emailed Lyons stating the organisation would pay for Lyons’ travel, accommodation and meals to attend a meeting outside Wagga.
The next day, Lyons told Rivmed’s finance officer she wanted full travel because she would pay for her own accommodation.
“Now, that is not right, she did not pay for her own accommodation at all,” Ms Dobraszczky said.
Ms Dobraszczky said it was evidence of Lyons having a tendency to behave dishonestly when it came to travel expenses.
Lyons’ solicitor, David Barron, suggested Lyons may not have been the recipient of the AHMRC email.
“We heard evidence she had a personal assistant,” Mr Barron said. “We don’t know who responded to these (AHMRC) emails.”
Earlier on Thursday, a senior investigator with the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations conceded there were errors in some figures in a spreadsheet that summarised alleged frauds by Lyons.
The prosecution case closed on Thursday and the matter was adjourned to May 10 for the defence case.
