October 23, 2016
Appeal Court turns heat up on Adlam penalty
A high flying Maori businesswoman has been told to repay more than $11
million in profits from developing geothermal power stations on Maori freehold land near Kawerau.
The Court of Appeal reversed a Maori Appellate Court judgment that would have allowed Bev Adlam to keep some of the proceeds from the sale of her company Geothermal Development Ltd.
She must also pay interest of $1.5 million and costs.
She earlier agreed to pay back $2.4 million in royalties from the TG2 power station, which used waste geothermal water from what was the Kawerau pulp and paper mill.
The station was commissioned by Bay of Plenty Energy in 1993 on land belonging to the Matata772; Parish 39A 2A Ahu Whenua (Bath) Trust, which Ms Adlam was a trustee of.
She pocketed the royalties for 15 years until she was stood down by the Maori Land Court.
In 2008 a second power station was commissioned on the Bath Block, using steam from the neighbouring Farm Block, which has a different trust even though most of the owners are the same.
Through a complicated set of options, Ms Adlam sold the completed station in 2010 to Eastland Energy, pocketing $11.2 million.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the original Maori Land Court funding that Ms Adlam had breached her fiduciary duty as a trustee of the Bath Trust and had to give up all the money.
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