August 16, 2017
Release date set for Sir Ngatata Love
Former Wellington Tenths Trust chair Sir Ngatata Love has been granted parole and will leave prison in early October.
The decision was made on Tuesday at Love’s first appearance before the parole board.
The 79-year-old was sentenced to two and a half years jail in October last year after being found guilty of taking a $1.5 million payment from a developer who wanted to use trust land near parliament.
The money was used to pay down a mortgage on a house he had bought at Plimmerton with his partner Lorraine Skiffington, whose trial had been stayed on the grounds of illness.
He appealed, arguing his growing dementia means he should not have stood trial but in June the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction.
The Wellington Tenths Trust says it has no plans to pursue Love for any losses, although it will continue in its civil action against Ms Skiffington.
Chair Morrie Love says it commissioned a forensic accountant and a lawyer to review the issue and concluded it was too hard to mount a civil case.
He says there is nothing to be found without the powers of the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the finances of a private individual and it is time to move on.
A summary of the panel’s findings will be included in the trust’s annual report next month.
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