REAA, favouritism, crony’s and conspiracy, the ethical dilemma?

SFO Boss, the Champagne guzzling Adam Feeley. Photo / Dean Purcell

Source: Editorial: SFO’s bubbly an error of judgment (New Zealand Herald)

When it comes to conspiracies and fraud, who polices the fraud police in New Zealand? aka, the SFO, or the REAA for that matter!

In our last post we critiqued a report into the hiring of bent ex-cop Jonathan Moss at the Real Estate Agent’s Authority. Our conclusion was that the report commissioned by Kristy McDonald QC, the Chairperson of the authorities board, was nothing more than a cover-up and that Moss’s appointment amounted to corruption and cronyism at its worst, which in Australia, of course, is a serious criminal offense – but obviously not in small pacific Island Nations like Fiji and New Zealand.

Kristy McDonald QC, just how many of her crony's are suckling off the public purse?

Given that, in our opinion at least, the “McDonald” report was almost certainly a cover-up, we believed that there was every likelihood that McDonald’s hiring of Moss  may not have been an isolated case,  rather a systemic method of creating  “job’s for the boy’s” and Girls, all close associates and friends of McDonald.

In the Moss case we believe without reservation that he had been, from the outset, the ‘preferred’ candidate; despite the fact that he was not the most qualified and had been introduced into the mix by his good old ‘mate’, Sarn Herdson. Moss had clearly not been confronted with any sort of orthodox vetting process and had certainly not been required to jump through the same screening hoops expected of the other two well qualified candidates.

That then prompted us to go looking for others within the REAA that may have been given high paying positions of power and authority simply because of, like Moss, who they were, who they knew and their connections so to speak. After a little research we were able to locate at least two further examples of this REAA cronyism.

The circumstance of one in particular of those two REAA officers appointment’s is quite disturbing, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is her connection, yet again, to Kristy McDonald QC. This employee is currently the chair of an REAA Complaint Assessment Committee or CAC and  her name is Ms Anna Tierney

Ms Tierney first hit Lauda Finem’s radar with various documents and diary notes in another matter, the Andrew John Gummer file. A file that arrived here in Australia via a plain brown envelope in 2009. Ms Tierney was of course at the time an investigator (forensic accounting) with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), serving under then CEO David Bradshaw’s stewardship and whats more during the, National Party, Governments attempted cover-up of a two billion dollar fraud on the New Zealand public/tax payer.

Morten at the Bain trial

Our regular readers will recall that yet another of the REAA’s CAC chairperson’s, Mr Paul Morten, was first spotted on that same radar screen; Morten had also played a role in attempting to conceal the massive speedometer frauds that prompted the Andrew John Gummer affair, albeit a far more hands on role.

Readers will also recall that Anna Tierney’s old boss, Mr David Bradshaw, who headed up the SFO from 1997 – 2007  was charged, along with a number of senior Government Ministers; including then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, under Section 71 of the Crimes Act for suppression of evidence. It was only then that the Government and Bradshaw acted to charge Andrew John Gummer with the offences that he would later be convicted of.

The, National Party, Government later went on to protect Colin Giltrap employees who were guilty of the same offending, we also note that the fraudster Colin Giltrap recently received a, National Party, Government sponsored Knighthood; from fat boy fraudster too, arise Sir Colin,  a knight in a shiny silver Camry.

ex SFO boss David Bradshaw, Anna Tierney's bosom buddy in 1997

We Digress, Anna Tierney has herself felt the wasp like sting that a private prosecution can inflict, ex Government Minister Tuariki Delamere filed private information’s (criminal charges) against her and others in 2007 subsequent to her part in a botched SFO investigation into Delamere’s financial dealings in 2005 wherein the SFO charged Delamere. Charges which  Tuariki Delamere was promptly acquitted of.

Ms Tierney who now again holds down the senior position of an investigator at New Zealand’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) once left, in fact soon after Bradshaw. We discovered that on the 1st March 2008 an article appeared in the New Zealand Herald announcing Ms Tierney’s resignation from the SFO. Ms Tierney then joined accounting firm Ernst and Young:

Anna Tierney is joining the same team at Ernst & Young as a senior manager. She has come from the Serious Fraud Office, where she worked on a variety of cases detecting, investigating and prosecuting incidents of suspected fraud.

Source: Movers and shakers (New Zealand Herald 5:00 AM Saturday Jun 14, 2008)

For some reason however in 2012 Ms Tierney is again back at the SFO, in fact she is again found in the role of an investigator and the case manager of at least two major fraud investigations;  South Canterbury Finance  and  Dominion Finance. Of particular interest to us here at Lauda Finem is her involvement in the investigation of South Canterbury Finance, and her involvement with a Christchurch Crown Prosecutor by the name of Brent Stanaway. We will leave that issue and our very serious concerns for another post.

The reason why we are given to suspect that Tierney’s move back to the SFO may have been  inspired by none other than Kristy McDonald QC who like Brent Stanaway are on the SFO prosecutions advisory committee is, also, for the moment confidential.

We however suspect that Tierney’s appointment to the REAA was facilitated by Kristy McDonald QC and the REAA’s very special brand of cronyism. Kristy was appointed to the position of Chairperson for the Real Estate Agents Authority in May 2009, prior to the legislation coming into force on the 17 November 2009.

Anna Tierney, who needless to say has had a relationship for quite some time with Kristy McDonald over at the Serious Fraud Office, was (according to the REAA) appointed chair of one of the REAA’s CAC’s soon after McDonald’s appointment.

Keith Manch's corruption, underwritten by the REAA, CAC Chair Anna Tierney?

Where Tierney’s association with Kristy McDonald and subsequent appointment becomes of interest to us is her inexplicable intervention and clearly biased behaviour in a recent REAA case. In that matter what is also of concern is the close association with a retired journalist, Jenni McManus and the aforementioned colleague of both Tierney and Kristy McDonald, Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway. Lauda Finem posted stories featuring both Stanaway and McManus in mid 2010, almost two years ago.

Unfortunately no one that we spoke to at Ernst and Young (including our attempts to contact her ex boss Matthew Hammond in Melbourne) were able to shed light on when exactly Ms Tierney departed Ernst and Young. Call’s to the Serious Fraud Office media liaison officer Andrea went unanswered and the receptionists seemed unduly panicked by our inquiry.

Given, however, that Tierney’s replacement (Rob Hayden) joined Ernst and Young in the middle of 2011 (according to one Ernst and young source) and the fact that the girl in the office could not remember Anna Tierney we will assume that Tierney departed around the same time as the South Canterbury Finance case was commenced, we have other very good reasons for believing that was the case.

Over the past few months we have also noticed an inordinately high level of search engine referrals for “Brent Stanaway” being forwarded to our site. go figure!

If you have been affected by Ms Anna Tierney and her decisions (REAA or SFO) send us an email at;  laudafinem@bigpond.com , we would so love to hear from you. We have also advised the victim of Tierney’s tyranny of her very serious conflicted interest!

We have also passed this story on to an associate, a freelance journalist, who will know doubt do something more in an orthodox way with this story! Ms Anna Tierney may well be a “mover and shaker“ but what exactly is it that shes been moving and shaking lately? Independence, impartiality, honesty and integrity perhaps, the foundations of New Zealands justice system? Is Ms Anna Tierney yet another Judge Bill Wilson? Personally we think Anna Tierney’s just crawled out of Keith Manch’s Pandora’s Box. In the words of New Zealand’s own Justice Sir Edmond Thomas;

Justice Sir Edmund (Ted) Thomas

“The public look to the judiciary for stability … integrity … impartiality. If that integrity is not maintained the basic principle of judicial independence becomes that much harder to justify. The rule of law itself is placed in jeopardy. These sentiments are not empty rhetoric; they represent the reality of our unwritten constitution in which the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law are fundamental.

 “If he (Wilson) did not resign it was inevitable that the media would get on to the matter and make Justice Wilson’s tenure impossible – and the Court itself would suffer in the process”

Source: Letter to Sir David Gascoigne KNZM CBE LL

Does Kristy McDonald QC actually have any real conviction that includes the word “justice”? We think not!

Things have changed since the 1980’s, is Kristy a vampire soon to be confronted by the light of day, a soon to be extinct dinosaur? She might like to reflect on her own words:

“I am now the chair of two boards and a member of a third. I enjoy the role of chair, but I find a lot of people think chairing a board is easier than it actually is. You are the one responsible when there are problems. Ultimate accountability lies with the chair and the board. It is important to ensure that the board is always kept updated about all issues but this is particularly important when problems arise.

Note: The video below was disabled by YouTube on  20 April 2012 after someone in power (we suspect via YouTube partner TVNZ) falsely alleged that what amounts to an evidential tape is “somehow” defamatory. It is of course not defamatory, the truth never is, but the video does evidence Mr Honey’s criminal offending and that must be embarrassing for Mr Honey and the REAA.

Lauda Finem have also taken the extraordinary step of closing our YouTube account (in protest) and will be working over the weekend to have the video evidence up and running again, this time under the complete control of www.laudafinem.org so that the likes of Martin Honey and his corrupt national party mates cant touch it………so pop back soon!

Bibliography:

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/government_ethics/introduction/cronyism.html

http://www.laudafinem.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/meltzer-and-associates-letter-1.pdf

http://www.laudafinem.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/mortens-e-mails-1.pdf

http://www.ipsofactoj.com/international/2005/Part04/int2005(04)-009.htm

http://laudafinem.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/yet-another-ex-cop-and-corrupt-barrister-on-the-inside-of-the-reaa/

http://static.stuff.co.nz/files/REAA-Report.pdf

http://www.business.govt.nz/do-it-online/register-a-company/companydetails/1548940

http://www.investigatemagazine.com/docs/carxtr.htm

http://kiwisfirst.co.nz/files/SirTHOMASJudicialConductCommissioneredi.pdf

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=889745

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/1900941

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10643349

http://laudafinem.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/yet-another-ex-cop-and-corrupt-barrister-on-the-inside-of-the-reaa/

http://decisions.dotnous.com/reaa/pdfs/CA3916146_Determination.pdf

http://www.sfo.govt.nz/f55,1012/Serious_Fraud_Office_Annual_Report_2006-07_updated_.pdf

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00324/hon-david-cunliffe-others-to-face-98-charges.htm

http://tvnz.co.nz/content/628093/423466/article.html

http://www.japaneseusedcars.co.nz/automotive-news/

http://www.reaa.govt.nz/sites/default/files/u200/CA3873459%20determination%20to%20be%20published.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_Fraud_Office_(New_Zealand)

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10495384

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment/news/article.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=10516170

http://www.sfo.govt.nz/case/dominion-finance-11-13

http://www.sfo.govt.nz/case/south-canterbury-finance-11-12

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10355827

http://www.sfo.govt.nz/f253,14990/Briefing_to_Incoming_Minister_310112.pdf

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/government_ethics/introduction/cronyism.html

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10756558

Related articles

• The REAA; lies,delusion, politicians and willful blindness (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• The REAA, & the mysterious case of Nathan Guy, Kristy McDonald QC, Crown Law and the Coroner (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Keith Manch’s victim writes – Jackie Blue, Martin Honey – The “Big Mistake” Plot (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Keith Manch, bad cop takes aim at Brian Rowe, iconic justice crusader. (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Open letter to New Zealand’s real estate agents (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Keith Manch corrupt civil servant writes (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Jackie “the fixer” Blue (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Yet another ex-cop and corrupt barrister on the inside of the REAA (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• Deus Ex Machina aka Baton Boy (laudafinem.wordpress.com)
• She’s a politician nuf said – Is Jackie “I’ve been belted” Blue a Bent Polly? (laudafinem.wordpress.com)