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Alleged corporate fraudster Helen Rosamond asks for more legal resources

Steve ZemekNCA NewsWire
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Camera IconNot Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia

A former corporate high-flyer who is alleged to have defrauded the NAB of millions of dollars says she will be unfairly disadvantaged at trial because she cannot pay an expert to comb over a massive forensic accounting report.

Helen Rosamond, the chief executive of events management company Human Group, has pleaded not guilty to 73 fraud charges following an investigation sparked when the bank was tipped off by a corporate whistleblower.

She is alleged to have given kickbacks to Helen Rosamond, who was at the time chief of staff to NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn, as part of an inflated invoices scheme.

Ms Rosamond has pleaded not guilty to a raft of charges, including corruptly offering a benefit, and is due to face a four-month trial in July next year.

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However, she has made an application to stay the proceedings, arguing she will be unfairly disadvantaged at trial because of a lack of resources.

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Camera IconHelen Rosamond is scheduled to face a four-month trial mid next year. NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia

The NSW District Court heard on Monday that Ms Rosamond had made the stay application because Legal Aid declined her application to pay for a forensic accountant.

The court was told the crown prosecution was set to rely on a forensic accounting report, which was paid for by the NAB.

The report cost $3.8m, took 25 experts 10,000 hours to prepare, and had a 500-page summary, as well as containing 46,000 pages of data.

Crown prosecutor Karl Prince, who is opposing the stay application, said of the 73 charges that Ms Rosamond was facing, only 12 were directly related to the report prepared by advisory firm McGrathNicol.

“It’s not to the extent where this whole prosecution is reliant on this forensic accounting report,” Mr Prince told Judge Robert Sutherland on Monday.

However, defence barrister Anton Hughes told the court that as well as being knocked back for funding for a forensic accountant, Ms Rosamond was also only approved for funding for one counsel, despite arguing that she required two senior counsel.

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Camera IconHelen Rosamond has pleaded not guilty to allegations she was involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud. NCA NewsWire/Adam Yip Credit: News Corp Australia

He said it represented an “extreme under-resourcing” in a complex matter.

He further said the forensic accounting report was central to the entire case and Ms Rosamond needed to be able to rely on expert evidence.

“The limited availability of legal resources compounds the unfairness which flows from the absence of a suitably briefed expert to consider the material on which the forensic accounting report is based,” Mr Hughes said.

The matter was adjourned to return to court on Wednesday.

Originally published as Alleged corporate fraudster Helen Rosamond asks for more legal resources

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