Pleading not guilty ... Captain Stefan King. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
RANKING Navy Captain Stefan King, who had several love affairs while falsely claiming entitlements for being stationed away from his wife, initially told investigators there was ''nobody else in my life'', a court heard yesterday.
The court-martial trial being held at the military court in Canberra also heard yesterday that investigators had first learnt of the claims against the Iraq veteran and commanding officer of HMAS Albatross at Nowra from a whistleblower.
Captain King is pleading not guilty to 19 charges of fraudulently claiming about $38,000 in allowances to which he was not entitled because he was no longer in a proper relationship with his wife.
At an interview with officers from the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service on September 15, the video of which was played in court yesterday, Captain King said: ''I meet all of the tests for being a married man. I never sought to gain any advantage from this.''
He later states: ''There is nobody else in my life.''
The previous two days of the trial were taken up mostly by prosecutor Lyn McDade's reading out lengthy passages of emails between Captain King and a married Sydney woman, Robina Frew, with whom he was having an affair.
In the emails, which date back to 2008, the pair frequently declare their love for each other and Captain King repeatedly states he plans to leave his wife and marry Mrs Frew.
The prosecution contends that the emails show Captain King had emotionally and sexually separated from his wife before he was posted to the HMAS Albatross.
But he claimed entitlements that are available to Navy members who are forced to live away from their spouse because of work. The trial continues.
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