Ngatata Love takes stand in his fraud trial as doctor stands by

Monday 22nd August 2016

Former Treaty negotiator Ngatata Love has taken the stand in the High Court in Wellington where he is accused of defrauding the Wellington Tenths Trust by taking payments to ensure property developers would win work with the iwi entity he chaired.

Preceded by a karakia from the public gallery, Love began his testimony today by outlining his personal history. The session was shortened to one hour to allow for Love's ill health, which had seen him hospitalised during the court hearing, and his doctor was on hand at today's hearing.

Love is the first defence witness to be called by his counsel, Colin Carruthers QC. The prosecution launched its case two-and-a-half weeks ago for the hearing that was initially set down for 11 days.

The former Victoria University of Wellington academic, who was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Maori in 2008, is charged with obtaining a secret commission and obtaining significant sums by deception.

The Crown says he signed an agreement in late 2006 with Auckland property developers Redwood Group and Equinox Group to ensure they could lease land owned by the Tenths Trust, and that he received service fees through Pipitea Street Development Limited (PSDL), a company owned by his partner Lorraine Skiffington, without the trust’s knowledge. That money is said to have been used to repay a property loan.

Skiffington was also charged but has been granted a permanent stay due to her ill health, while Ngatata Love's son Matene Love has already pleaded guilty to accepting a secret commission.

The judge-alone trial before Justice Graham Lang is continuing.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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