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September 01, 2016
Love guilty of hiding spy base commission
Waatea Team
Posted On September 1, 2016
Former Te Puni Kokiri head and treaty negotiator Sir Ngatata Love has been found guilty of obtaining by deception a $1.5 million fee which should have gone to the Wellington Tenths Trust.
The verdict in the High Court in Wellington this morning follows a three week trial.
An alternative charge under the taking of a secret commission was dismissed.
The prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office related to the development of a building on land owned by the Wellington Tenths Trust that now houses the offices of the Security Intelligence Service, the Government Security information Bureau and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The SFO says as the trust's then chair Love arranged for himself and his partner, Lorraine Skiffington, to take the $3 million premium the prospective developers were prepared to pay to lease the property, without disclosing it to other trustees.
The money was used to pay down the mortgage of a new house the pair bought in Plimmerton.
Skiffington had her charges permanently stayed in August 2015 because of ill-health.
Love's son Matene Love last year pleaded guilty to one charge of taking a secret commission and was sentenced to six months home detention.
Sir Ngatata Love's conviction was deferred at the request of his lawyer until sentencing on October 6.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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