April 23, 2014
Bev Adlam ordered to repay $14.4m
The Maori Land Court has ordered prominent Kawerau businesswoman Bev Adlam to return $14.4 million she took in the process of developing geothermal power stations on family land.
Ms Adlam claimed the money was her fees for developing the power stations.
One of the stations is operated by Bay of Plenty Energy and uses waste geothermal water from wells on land originally owned by Tasman Pulp and Paper, now Norske Skogg, while a more recent station uses water from a neighbouring block owned by the same hapu.
The projects arose out of her Masters of Business Administration thesis, which explored the possibility of tapping the geothermal resource.
Judge Craig Coxhead said access fees and royalties from the original station should have gone to the trust, but between 1992 and 2008 the $2.4 million paid over had all gone to Ms Adlam.
He ruled that as a trustee Ms Adlam was not entitled to a developer’s fee or any other extra benefit.
He also found she must pay over the $11.2 million profit made on the second project.
Judge Coxhead says granting an allowance to Ms Adlam would encourage other Ahu Whenua trustees to act in breach of trust with the expectation they would be rewarded out of profit.
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