Fran digs up the quotes
Oh I do love journalists who do research. Fran O’Sullivan has found these quotes:
Where’s the audit trail? Precisely into which account went this cheque?”
“On whose behalf was the cheque to be held and what happened to this money? Is there any significance that … was in serious financial trouble?”
“Why is the Serious Fraud Office taking so long to find the answers to these questions?”
“I say the whole thing stinks.”
Fran tells us that we might expect these to be quotes from Bob Jones or Rodney Hide asking about the investigation of NZ First finances. But in fact they are quotes from the Rt Hon Winston Peters in 2002 demanding the SFO get to the bottom of National’s funding.
Fran notes:
This is the real reason why Peters should be judged guilty by his political peers of the “H” word – hypocrisy.
By failing to publish a clear audit trail showing just how Sir Robert’s $25,000 donation found its way from the Spencer Trust into NZ First’s coffers, or the way in which the amount was disbursed on NZ First’s behalf, Peters invites a tsunami of disbelief which might easily be turned back by a simple disclosure.
As to whether the SFO will investigate:
The SFO, which is now deciding whether it should formally investigate Hide’s complaint, will tread carefully.
But it must be consistent.
It launched a formal investigation into National Party donations in 2002 after a former official – assured of anonymity – revealed the party still had unanswered questions over discrepancies between the amount its fundraiser had expected from Fay Richwhite interests and what arrived in the party’s accounts in 1996. …
The SFO ultimately cleared the National Party of any wrongdoing.
If Peters, his party and his lawyers have nothing to hide they should demand answers to the questions.
Otherwise they lay themselves open to new claims that “the whole thing stinks”.
The SFO decision will be pivotal.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
What you leave out of the saga of nationals mysterious cheque from Fay Richwhite is this..
“National’s Auckland regional conference is underway this weekend with the embarrassed party awkwardly trying to put a bitter internal row behind it, and desperate to find anything to distract the media from the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the party’s funds.
The news that the SFO is investigating the party’s finances – specifically the mysterious amounts donated by merchant bankers Fay Richwhite in 1996 – had recently prompted the party to call for SFO head David Bradshaw’s resignation after he informed the Prime Minister’s office that he was investigating National”
Calling for the head of the SFO to be sacked because he launched an investigation.!!
“The party’s president Michelle Boag – former head of public relations at Fay Richwhite – had threatened former president John Slater with expulsion, if it was found that he was the source of the leak about the party’s 1996 funding to the SFO.”
Intimidating a potential witness!! Then again the Slaters, such a charming lot
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:58 am
And Ghostie, what did they find? Who was prosecuted?
What will they find this time? For how long do you think your favorite “lying wanker” will go down?
Care to venture an opinion?
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:58 am
This is more details of the cheques from FR
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters asked in Parliament yesterday whether former National Party president Geoff Thompson used money donated to the party in 1996 to get his company Waipuna International out of financial trouble.
The Serious Fraud Office is investigating alleged misuse of donations to the party during that time.
It is believed a $250,000 donation from bankers Fay Richwhite, put into a trust account run by Mr Thompson’s law firm, Macalister Mazengarb, is at the centre of the investigation.
“Fay Richwhite paid a cheque to Geoffrey Thompson and he banked it. The real issue is, where is the audit trail?” said Mr Peters.
“Precisely into which account of Macalister Mazengarb went this cheque?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2042674.
So it appears some money went missing!!
This comment from Boag was illuminating
National Party president Michelle Boag said earlier that the party had supplied a complete paper trail on the transactions.
Part of the money had been used to meet expenses, which were all receipted.
The balance of the donation was then paid as a single cheque to the party’s account.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2097046
Meet expenses!! yeah right
Luckily by the time the SFO turned up , the were “all receipted”
So many expenses just to bank two cheques and then combine them as one cheque so as to hide the donors name
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Poor GWW, desperately trying to threadjack and protect his hero Winston.
You loose all credibility as a rational thinking person when you try to standup for a slimeball like Peters. It merely proves that you have neither intellect nor self-respect.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The national party couldnt be cleared of wrongdoing as it was not the focus of the investigation.
Some unknown person was a ‘fundraiser’ who arranged for Fay Richwhite to splash a little of their millions the National parties way
Two cheques turned up in the mail for amounts totalling X at the lawyers office .
But not David Henry so its all right then
National then got an ‘anonymous’ donation of of X-Y.
hardly any wrongdoing by national. How much were the ‘expenses’.
$5000 ? Well lawyers do charge a lot Maybe it was more , much more, 10% say
But taking expenses out of a trust fund account?
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I wonder if there’s any video of the quotes Fran uses? I have an entire video editing suite sitting idle tomorrow… juxtaposed with more recent footage it’d make a nice little viral.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Ghostwhowalks2: ( wouldn’t it be so much easier & transparent if people use their real names): I think DPF’s point is that the SFO should treat Winston Peters and NZ First the same as they treated the National Party i.e. investigate the financial discrepancies. Unfortunately under Labour there has grown a perception (rightly or wrongly) that a Labour Party membership ( or associated party) is a “get out of jail free card”.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Labour= Owen Glen
National =Fr
NZ FIRST=Owen Glen
Who can hide the most,tell most lies ect.
Show me anyone/most that past up on free money when offered.
The EFA is just a joke,proves you cant legislate against human behaviour.