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The man who lost Ngati Tama’s treaty settlement is trying to get another term on the Taranaki iwi by telling voters his big bet is about to pay off.
Greg White kept a close grip on the iwi for more than a decade until a financial crisis resulted in an advisory board coming in to attempt a rescue.
Accounts released as part of the current runanga election show the advisory board wrote off the more than $9 million spent developing an online design software package called My Virtual Home and wrote down the value of its shares in the company from $4 million to $1.9 million.
The most recent statement shows that as at September 2014 the runanga had just $2.8 million in assets, a decade after receiving its $14.5 million settlement.
But Mr White resurfaced, and with a board dominated by whanau members he resumed control, including representing the iwi on the Iwi Chairs Forum.
In his election statement he says the software, now rebranded OIGY for ‘Oh I Get You' is now commercially available.
He says the company is in confidential negotiations with a number of prominent Australian companies who are interested in using OIGY as they move into the digital space.
Voting closes at the runanga’s annual meeting at Pukearuhe Marae on February 27.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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