A former Government architect being investigated over the alleged misuse of public funds has been accused of defrauding the company he worked for after Government of almost $10,000.

Kyril Burrows, 46, has been at the centre of a probe by the Police and Auditor General for several months over building contracts relating to his time as a Government architect.

Last week, he went on trial at Magistrates' Court, accused of forgery and making a false representation to defraud a private firm, Compass Holdings.

According to prosecutors, Burrows, from Southampton, asked to be reimbursed for almost $10,000 of software he never bought. He denies charges of forging two sales receipts and making false representations to Compass, where he worked as general manager.

Angela Binns, office administrator for Compass Holdings, told the court that on February 12, 2009, she was running errands in Hamilton when she received a call from Burrows.

"He said he had been to the office and he had left a reimbursement form, that he had purchased a software package from CAD Concepts.

"He asked if I could process it as soon as possible because it was near the due date. He had explained that if he purchased something on that card, it had to be paid in full by the next month," she said.

When she returned to the office, she found a reimbursement form, along with a $9,390 receipt and an invoice.

The court heard that in September 2009, after Burrows had left the company, Ms Binns contacted CAD Concepts about the documents, which were discovered to be forgeries.

Defence lawyer Richard Horseman suggested Burrows was actually a shareholder and director in the business despite claims that he wasn't.

He pointed out deviations from Ms Binns' witness statement, in which she said she received the invoice on January 12, 2009.

He suggested: "You have your evidence confused because you're lying, correct? I put it to you that you and your father [director and shareholder in Compass Holdings Elvin Binns] concocted this story to attack Mr. Burrows."

"No," Ms. Binns replied.

Mr. Binns also took the stand, telling the court how he and his business partner, Tyrone Sampson, met Burrows while they were all employed with Works and Engineering. After starting Compass Holdings, he hired Burrows in August 2008 to manage and market the companies, as well as negotiate and sign contracts.

He said when he learnt about the reimbursement request he personally approached Burrows.

"I asked him why he had purchased this software when I asked him to get a price for it and get back to me," he said.

"I said to him seeing how he had purchased it we would have to reimburse him and asked him to please not do it again."

Mr. Horseman questioned Mr. Binns about the ownership of Compass Holdings.

While Mr. Binns said that only he and Mr. Sampson were shareholders, Mr. Horseman produced several documents with his signature naming Burrows as a shareholder and director.

Mr. Binns responded: "It appears to be my signature, but I swear under oath that I don't know how it got there."

Mr. Horseman put forward e-mails in which Burrows had requested financial documents for the company.

"That wouldn't make it a smart criminal, would it?" Mr. Horseman said. "The reason he requested those documents was because he was a shareholder and director."

Mr. Binns responded: "The reason I didn't produce them was because he was not a shareholder or director."

Yesterday, Mr. Horseman suggested the reason Mr. Binns denied his client was a director was because he thought the e-mail trail would be deleted. Mr. Binns disagreed.

Mr. Horseman also suggested Mr. Binns accused his client of misappropriating funds in the company.

"You told Mr. Burrows if he didn't leave, his children would no longer have a father and his wife would no longer have a husband", Mr. Horseman said.

Mr. Binns laughed and said: "That's incorrect."

The trial which is a separate matter from the ongoing Government investigation is due to resume on September 23.

Meanwhile, Burrows is also embroiled in civil litigation relating to Compass Holdings, where he is trying to establish his rights of ownership in four different companies.