Prominent Māori performing arts educator Donna Grant has appeared at the Rotorua District Court on charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The SFO says Mrs Grant faces representative charges of ‘Dishonestly using documents’ and ‘Obtaining by deception’ and individual charges of ‘Creating a forged document’ and ‘Using a forged document’.  

The SFO alleges that Mrs Grant used her position in several organisations to fraudulently obtain funding from the tertiary education provider Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and the Tertiary Education Commission.

Donna Mariana Grant (60) has a background in education, particularly in Māori performing arts in and around the Te Arawa region.

She held numerous prominent positions with charitable organisations and in the education sector generally between 2010 and 2014. She was a trustee of the Te Arawa Kapa Charitable Trust, a member of the board of trustees for the New Zealand Warriors Foundation, as well as the executive director of a private training establishment, Manaakitanga Aotearoa Trust.

The charges before the Court relate to Mrs Grant involvement with these organisations and specifically the fraudulent obtaining of funding for them.