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Te Whānau ō Waipareira is standing behind its Chief Executive John Tamihere over a court battle with a former business partner of the trust.
The High Court has been asked to make a summary judgment over a $500,000 loan made to Mr Tamihere by developer Brent Ivil in 2008.
Mr Tamihere’s lawyer says $210,000 was repayment of a loan Mr Tamihere’s company made to Mr Ivil and the rest is in a solicitor’s trust fund until the court says which of Mr Ivil’s companies it should be repaid to.
The row surfaced after a development project between the West Auckland trust’s commercial arm and Mr Ivil’s West Harbour Holdings fell apart.
Waipareira chair Josie Smith says she can’t comment on the case because it is before the courts.
But she says Mr Tamihere has proved his value to the trust in multiple ways.
“He has proved his value to the trust by his leadership, on his ability to build this trust to where it is today. He has put the trust in a very strong financial position, to clear all our debts and to be cash flow positive. Besides, he’s helped thousands and thousands and thousands of our Māori people,” Josie Smith says.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd
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