Senior public servant Yvonne Debra Buza ‘stole $40,000 in monthly instalments from three government departments’

A SENIOR public servant dipped into the coffers of three government departments on a near-monthly basis for five years and stole almost $40,000, prosecutors allege.

Australian one-hundred-dollar bills are displayed for a photograph in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. The Australian dollar dropped the most in two weeks against the yen as a drop in U.S. stocks prompted investors to pare investments funded by loans in the Japanese currency. Photographer: Grant Turner/Bloomberg News

A SENIOR public servant dipped into the coffers of three government departments on a near-monthly basis for five years and stole almost $40,000, prosecutors allege.

Documents released to The Advertiser allege Yvonne Debra Buza siphoned from the Aboriginal Health Council of SA, the Aboriginal Health Advisory Committee and the State of SA.

They accuse Buza, former chair of the council, of taking as much as $2291.79 and as little as $324 per unlawful transaction.

They further allege Buza’s most common thefts were valued at $577.30 and $528.80, with those amounts taken 11 times between October 2010 and April 2014.

Buza, 59, of Windsor Gardens, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.

She has yet to plead to 36 counts of deceiving another to benefit herself.

Buza was charged following an investigation by the office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption headed by former Justice Bruce Lander.

She is the former chair of the Aboriginal Health Council, and has also served as chief executive of the Pika Wiya Aboriginal Health Service at Port Augusta.

Last week, prosecutors asked Buza’s case be adjourned in order for them to finalise their case, and did not detail the nature of the allegations filed against her.

In their documents, released by the court on Tuesday, prosecutors allege the offences occurred between November 8, 2009 and December 20, 2014.

The documents allege Buza deceived the council, committee and state to obtain a benefit in the form of money to the value of $39,368.45.

Prosecutors allege Buza performed unlawful transactions on a monthly basis, beginning with eight thefts from the council between November 2009 and October 2010.

Between October 2010 and August 2012, she allegedly siphoned funds from both the council and the committee, taking as much as $1851.42 in November of 2011.

Prosecutors allege Buza then defrauded the committee and the State of South Australia until December 2014, with her final theft valued at $11.62.56.

A note on the court file says prosecutors have yet to file declarations in the case, which are likely to include a report by a forensic accountant.

The documents filed so far do not make any claims as to how Buza used the money she allegedly defrauded.

Buza has been remanded on continuing bail to face court again next month.

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