Harrison altered CV for MoT job

Fraudster Joanne Harrison had lied on her CV to secure her senior position at the Ministry of Transport, journalists have discovered. News website Stuff reported last night that Harrison had deleted her role at a council where concerns had been raised about her employment history from her CV. The fallout from the Ministry of Transport fraud case escalated last week, and Harrison’s former boss, the current Auditor-General Martin Matthews, stepped aside as a new investigation was announced by the State Services Commissioner. A host of documents, including Harrison’s travel expenses and CV, have been made public by the Ministry of Transport as an investigation into the fraud continues. She also appeared to have completed a personality test which measured “normal personality characteristics” and “career derailment risks.” Harrison successfully applied to work at the ministry after an unsuccessful attempt in 2008. Her first application featured her work experience at a Far North District Council. In her second attempt, however, she removed all mention of it. She was the general manager for ‘customer focus and culture’ at Far North until 2008. Previous to this, she used the name Joanne Sharp and worked at Tower Insurance. She also claimed to have worked for Corrections, and the ministry is now investigating this. The Ministry of Transport told Stuff on Monday that because Harrison was not shortlisted for the role in 2008, she was not on any records when she applied again three years later. Investigators are also trying to determine why Harrison took $42,672 worth of domestic taxpayer-funded flights, and two flights to Manchester at a cost of over $18,000. Concerns were also raised in 2014 about the lack of contracts Harrison provided for suppliers, Stuff said. Harrison also signed off on deals without consulting the legal team, provoking further suspicion.