From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: jcurragh@xtra.co.nz
CC: murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz; craig.page@odt.co.nz; chris.morris@odt.co.nz; hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
Subject: FW: ORFU $25,000 received from a trust for DVML
Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 08:47:34 +1200
Sunday 20th May 2012
Dear Jeremy
Thank you for your response dated Saturday 19th May 2012.
1. On what date did ORFU put a halt on its trading?
2. The fact that the ORFU were paying other creditors with the $25,000 public money from a trust appears to indicate that the ORFU may have been trading while insolvent.
Given that the ORFU were redirecting monies from a trust for purposes other than intended then was the ORFU trading while insolvent?
It is also clear that the trust still has not been refunded yet – though the issue is also that the money should never have been used for anything other than what it was intended. This is misappropriation of public money and, as the ORFU change manager, surely it is your responsibility to report this to the appropriate authorities.
3. You still have given no explanation as to why the ORFU put $52,000 ‘in the their pot’ from their Black-tie dinner (5th August 2011) without paying their $25,352 bill to DVML. Again this is public money and needs to be accounted for.
4. It is appropriate that this is addressed in the media as it is clear that the ORFU have no intention of publically[sic] holding themselves to account.
5. You still have not answered whether you as change manager having access to the ORFU books would support a forensic audit. If you have no concerns whatsoever then I would expect that you would say so.
6. Jeremy, I do appreciate that this growing ORFU scandal is not of your doing.
However, as change manager, you do have a responsibility to report any financial irregularities that have come to your attention to the appropriate authorities . Not doing so leaves you open to allegations of complicity in this scandal.
You have now become aware of the $25,000 public money misappropriated from a trust, the $25,352 public money also misappropriated from DVML and the $5m of pokie money siphoned from South Auckland pokie machines by ORFU. Has the ORFU opened their books completely to allow you to see money in their other trusts?
If not, I would advise you to not allow yourself to become their fall guy.
As I said in an earlier email truth is the safest option.
7. Jeremy, you say in this latest email that this spending of monies from the trust ‘did not get spent on the authorised purpose’. You then go on to say: “This has happened on a number of occasions due to ORFU facing cashflow problems”. This term ‘cashflow problems’ seems to indicate that the ORFU have indeed been trading while insolvent. I suggest that it was not a ‘cashflow problem’ but rather an ‘insolvency problem’ which needs to be reported. This has happened on a number of occasions and obviously over a period of time before the ORFU announced their intention to seek voluntary liquidation. So, how long has the ORFU been not spending monies from trusts on the authorised purpose? If the ORFU are so broke they should not be applying for money from trusts knowing that they will not be spending the trust money on the authorised purpose.
Yours sincerely
Bev Butler
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From: jcurragh@xtra.co.nz
To: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
CC: murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz; craig.page@odt.co.nz; chris.morris@odt.co.nz; hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
Subject: RE: ORFU $25,000 received from a trust for DVML
Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 19:25:35 +1200
Dear Bev
The $25,000 was spent on other creditors as has been explained in earlier reports. These monies will need to be refunded to the trust as they did not get spent on the authorised purpose.
This has happened on a number of occasions due to ORFU facing cashflow problems. All monies not spent as authorised will be refunded to the respective trust.
The money is not “missing” rather it was used to pay other creditors.
As has been widely publicised the ORFU put a halt on it’s trading as soon as it became aware of the seriousness of the financial situation.
If anyone has evidence that warrants a forensic audit then this should be passed to the relevant authorities. This is the appropriate channel rather than through the public domain.
I have cc’ed everyone on this e mail
Jeremy Curragh
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Related Posts:
18.5.12 Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
11.5.12 Dunedin shootout: mafia bosses
2.5.12 Ratepayers pay for ORFU black tie dinner at stadium
1.5.12 ORFU’s draft constitution
29.4.12 Department of Internal Affairs, the gambling authority
22.4.12 DIA, OAG, TTCF and Otago Rugby swim below the line
31.3.12 Rob Hamlin: The ORFU’s small creditors: If I was one of them…
23.3.12 ORFU position
15.3.12 Message To ORFU Creditors, if you want to see your money
9.3.12 DCC considers writing off ORFU’s $400,000 debt
2.3.12 Demand a full independent forensic audit of ORFU
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
Dear Mr Curragh,
The fact that you recognize that money has been misappropriated from charitable trusts on several occasions is sufficient evidence to demand the forensic audit.
Don’t worry though, the DIA will take care of this in due course.
If the DIA doesn’t decide, as it has in the past, to overlook the matter and merely offer advice to be more covert!
Wow! Now that is newsworthy. Will the Otago Daily Times do something this time or are they waiting for a press release from the council’s new “communications” department? Paul Orders should have been looking at his iPhone mail aghast this morning.
Wow! Now that is newsworthy. Will the Otago Daily Times do something this time or are they waiting for a press release from the council’s new “communications” department? Paul Orders should have been looking at his iPhone mail aghast this morning.
Where is the ORFU going to get the money from to pay back the trusts?
This must have bearing on the court case on which subject the ODT is studiously rejecting letters
Ro, it seems that the ODT is saying that the defamation cases from Mains and Graham are before the courts. I’m not sure of this, but I don’t believe that the process is before the courts until June. One thing is for sure, that the court of public opinion seems to have been stifled through their actions. I wonder if that is one of the effects desired?
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{The first conference between the parties was set down for June 25. ODT Link -Eds}
Sites where comments may be made
http://article.wn.com/view/2012/05/01/Graham_and_Mains_sue_Cull/
http://www.facebook.com/no8.co.nz/posts/424402207572484?comment_id=5361812&offset=0&total_comments=5
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This quote is on the log-in page of http://kiwirugby.net :
“I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right” – Frederick (II) the Great.
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A comment expanding on this and illustrating the belief that everyone whether they are crazy about rugby or wish it would vanish completely from NZ should support it (i.e. pay), on http://kiwirugby.net/KRF/index.php?topic=4193.0 :
Re: ORFU Facing Liquidation
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2012, 09:00, GMT+6 »
Hey, is there nobody with a bit of initiative down there? Are your balls all frozen hard? How many grown men and women over 16 are there in Otago? If they each would contribute the price of one slab of Speights to the Union, where would they be? Probably rolling in the moolah! If you can’t organise that you don’t deserve to survive!