Decisions . . .

Patriot Hawgrider (@dale42860) tweeted at 9:37 PM on Thu, Apr 24, 2014:
pic.twitter.com/Bs18b7LWHs

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Aussie wine – NO parallels at DCC/DCHL/DVML/DVL/Delta/ORFU

Comment received from Peter
Submitted on 2014/04/17 at 11:42 am

[…] NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, has resigned because he had a ‘massive memory lapse’ about receiving a $3000 bottle of wine after the Liberal’s win in the last NSW election.
They have what they call an ‘Independent Commission against Corruption’ (ICAC) over there. They were able to unearth a ‘thank you’ note Farrell wrote at the time. Another former Liberal Premier was also caught out in 2002. (Sounds like we need a similar body here in NZ)
I note this because it again points to a glaring lack of accountability here… and the $3000 bottle of wine pales into almost insignificance compared to the multiple million dollar rortings going on here at the local government level.
The attitude continues to be ‘Oh well, lessons to be learnt. Let’s move on.’ We continue along this line at our peril. Corruption will grow and become even more insidious than is already apparent if citizens don’t rise up and demand accountability.

[ends]

****

Link via Hype O’Thermia
Thursday, 17 April 2014 6:12 p.m.

ClarkeAndDawe 16 Apr 2014

Clarke and Dawe – Government in NSW. A model of its kind
“Ike A’Kearing, a contestant of Huguenot descent” Originally aired on ABC TV: 17/04/2014

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Privatising Highlanders involves DCC (ratepayer funds?)

Jeremy Curragh had been appointed by the NZRU to help co-ordinate the sale and would work with Highlanders and NZRU staff to go through the whole process.

### ODT Online Wed, 9 Apr 2014
Rugby: Curragh involved in privatising Highlanders
By Steve Hepburn
The man deeply involved in saving Otago rugby from liquidation a couple of years ago is now helping privatise the Highlanders. The wheels are slowly turning on the Highlanders’ move to private ownership although, as with the other four New Zealand franchises, the New Zealand Rugby Union will retain majority ownership. A local committee, headed by Otago Rugby Football Union chairman Doug Harvie, had also been formed and would provide local input into the process. Included on this committee were representatives from other interested parties such as other provincial unions and local authorities.
Read more

█ Remember Jeremy Curragh’s role in ORFU’s misuse of funds and accounting for the union’s black-tie dinner held at the Stadium ???

—

Related Posts and Comments:
10.2.14 University of Otago major sponsor for Highlanders
11.12.13 Highlanders “Buy Us” entertainment: Obnoxious, noxious PROFESSIONAL RUGBY —stay away DCC !!!
27.5.12 Again: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
26.5.12 DIA media release
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
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
22.4.12 DIA, OAG, TTCF and Otago Rugby swim below the line
29.3.12 Dunedin City Council company sponsors Highlanders
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
18.5.12 Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
2.5.12 Ratepayers pay for ORFU black tie dinner at stadium
22.4.12 DIA, OAG, TTCF and Otago Rugby swim below the line
23.3.12 ORFU position
9.3.12 DCC considers writing off ORFU’s $400,000 debt
14.12.11 Davies “in the middle of a conversation” – how to fudge DVML, DCC, ORFU and Highlanders
22.12.09 DCC appoints Highlanders’ Board representative [Kereyn Smith]
16.10.09 Highlanders news [Stuart McLauchlan]
1.7.09 NZRU swings governance of Highlanders
28.5.09 Highlanders board less Farry

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU: Black-tie dinner, theft or fraud?

[screenshot]

• Dave Goosselink — Dunedin face (and voice) for TV3 News & Sports
• Samuel Gilchrist — social media handler for The Highlanders @Highlanders

Retweets by @whatifdunedin and @SearleJamie
• Jamie Searle — Southland Times racing reporter

—

Correspondence received.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014 10:58 a.m.

From: Bev Butler
To: Steve Tew [NZRU]; Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Murray Kirkness [ODT]; Steve Hepburn [ODT]; Rebecca Fox [ODT]; Ian Telfer [RNZ]
Subject: Black-tie dinner bill to be paid?
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:56:35 +1300

Wednesday 19th March 2014

Dear Steve

The following was posted on a local blogsite “What If Dunedin”.

“The conscience of the ORFU is totally absent. The normal procedure for staging an event such as the black-tie dinner is to budget all costs, set the entrance fees to cover those costs and establish a profit level. That is both normal and straightforward – some I’m sure, would say honest, business practice..

The way the ORFU operated was to set the costs, pay out the organiser – who just happened to be the wife of Laurie Mains – ignore the costs and bank the difference. Can anyone tell me that if this scenario happened with anyone else other than the dear old rugby-mad idiots on the Council involved, would this be tolerated? Not on your nelly. Can anyone tell me why this isn’t either theft or fraud?” *

What especially interests me about this post is the question posed as to whether theft or fraud is involved.
It feels like it to me but I’m not sure whether it would hold up in a court of law.
Maybe it could…maybe it couldn’t.
My limited understanding of the Crimes Act is that the hardest part to prove is intent.
In the case of the black-tie dinner, did the ORFU have any intent on paying the bill?
In my opinion, if they did they would have paid it when they received the money from the guests – because obviously it was the intent of the guests for their money to be paid for their evening out.
What do you think, Steve? I’d appreciate your view on this.

I noticed on twitter, media and rugby officials tweeting about this issue.
Strange how the Highlanders’ social media official, Samuel Gilchrist, refers to me as a ‘warmonger’ because I am asking for some honesty from the ORFU. The problem down here is that there is no decent leadership in rugby and hasn’t been for years.
We have Roger Clark as the current CEO of The Highlanders – he was the CEO of Southland Rugby Union at the time when they
they owed over $100,000 in booze. I fear that nothing much has changed.

I had hoped that with the new ORFU board that some leadership would be shown over the black-tie dinner scandal but, to date, that hasn’t happened. Change needs to come from the top so that people like Samuel Gilchrist understands that it is not okay to run off without paying your bills. He doesn’t seem to be able to figure this out for himself. I guess when things have been bad down here for so long those who can’t think for themselves look to the leaders for guidance which is lacking.

That is why I have turned to you, Steve, to finally show some leadership and right this wrong.

I hope I don’t have to continue to prod any deeper.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

Previous letter to Steve Tew deleted, read it here

[ends]

*Link to source

—

Related Posts and Comments:
17.3.14 ORFU: Black-tie dinner on ratepayers
14.3.14 ORFU flush to pay creditors

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU: Black-tie dinner on ratepayers

Correspondence received.
Monday, 17 March 2014 9:28 a.m.

From: Bev Butler
To: Steve Tew [NZRU]; Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]; Rebecca Fox [ODT]; Murray Kirkness [ODT]; Ian Telfer [RNZ]
Subject: FW: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 09:26:55 +1300

Monday 17th March 2014

Dear Steve

It is a while since we corresponded and Doug [Harvie] has indicated he doesn’t intend to respond any further (always best to keep the lines of communication open when in a leadership role) so thought I would let you in on the current situation of the ORFU.
Please read from the bottom up and then read the rest of this email.

Either Doug doesn’t fully appreciate the situation or is just hoping the issue will go away.
Let me explain the situation from a different perspective so that both you and Doug may have a deeper understanding of the full implications.

Let’s say that you and Doug decide to borrow a considerable amount of money to build a new restaurant with a state of the art glass roof. Absolutely stunning – is going to be just wonderful for me to conduct my business dealings there. Just days after your restaurant opens I come along and make a booking for 350 guests. Unfortunately, my business hasn’t been going that well so am using your new restaurant to have a fund-raising dinner. I employ one of my close friends, Elly-May, to organise the dinner for my business. She sells tickets for this dinner for $250 each. Now 350 guests at $250 each is $87,500. You charge me about $75 per guest – a total of about $26,000. Now after the event I pay my close friend Elly-May about $10,000 and have a few other expenses which leave me with a ‘profit’ of $52,000. BUT instead of paying you the $26,000 I put the lot in my ‘pot’ and cry that I’m poor. You and Doug were such wonderful hosts, our guests were well fed, plenty of booze and cleaned up after us. Thanks for that.

One of your colleagues gets a bit shirty and accuses me of being dishonest. How dare him [sic]. I just wanted to spend the money on something else – I had other bills to pay even though my 350 guests were under the impression they were paying for the night out I just wanted to use the money for something else. Done it before – ask Jeremy Curragh. Well. I have some very important friends, you know. So I get them to sue him for defamation. Felt good when your colleague had to apologise.

Do you really think I have acted honestly and with integrity?

Now do you understand why the Dunedin ratepayers are still angry about this?
I am still being approached by people (as recently as yesterday – some of them rugby coaches) upset by the ORFU’s actions.

I suggest you two have a chat and do the right thing and pay this bill now that the ORFU have announced a ‘profit’ for the year. Someone needs to show some leadership over this. The Dunedin community deserve better. Personally I believe you have a moral obligation to pay this bill and set this wrong right. It is but a small gesture for the many indiscretions perpetrated by the ORFU on the Dunedin community.
Some people in the Dunedin community think that the ORFU are rotten to the core but I don’t actually agree with them. I am an optimist at heart and believe that there is human decency in everyone. In the ORFU’s case it just requires a bit of deeper prodding.

The ORFU have a moral obligation to show some human decency and pay this bill. It is a matter of principle. I will not be silenced on this. You have my word on that.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—————————–

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:43:19 +1300

Dear Doug

Saying that “ALL creditors have been satisfied in full, in one way or another” is not the same as saying that all creditors have been PAID in full.
I know it is uncomfortable for you to be reminded of this but it still does not excuse the ORFU from doing the decent thing and paying their obscene black-tie dinner given they already had the money but decided to pocket it instead.
How about showing some decency or goodwill towards those that bailed you out of your financial mess now that you are flush with $406,859 profit?

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—————————–

From: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 20:16:32 +0000 [sic]

You have your facts wrong Bev – ALL creditors of ORFU have been satisfied in full, in one way or another.

I will not be responding to any further correspondence on this matter.

D J Harvie

Partner
Harvie Green Wyatt

(P O Box 5740, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand. Phone +64 3 4775005 or +64 21 2234169. Fax +64 3 4775447

—————————–

From: Bev Butler
Sent: Friday, 14 March 2014 7:32 a.m.
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
Cc: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill

Friday 14th March 2014

Dear Doug

In today’s ODT the ORFU have reported a profit of $406,859 for the 2013 financial year and a profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year. Part of this so called profit is just pocketing of monies from unpaid bills.

As you are fully aware, the ORFU ran up a DVML bill of $25,352 for their black tie fund raiser at the stadium on 5th August 2011. This was for food, booze, soft drinks and cleaning.

Not only did the ORFU run off without paying this bill but the ORFU paid no venue hire for this brand new venue. Then to top it off the ORFU pocketed $52,000 from this fundraising event into their ‘pot’ which then is reported as profit for the 2012 financial year.

The fact that the ORFU then pressurised the Council to ‘write it off’ does not excuse the ORFU from the moral obligation to pay this bill.

I was quoted in the ODT as saying this was ‘obscene’. It is like booking a large restaurant, gorging yourselves on all their food and drink and hospitality then doing a runner.

It is ‘obscene’ and I expect this bill to be paid in full.

Laurie Mains, and his wife, Anne-Marie, refused to answer questions as to whether Anne-Marie was paid for her services in organising this event. I actually have no problem with her charging for her professional services. What I do have a problem with is that it is standard practice for professional event organisers to ensure all outstanding bills are paid before the ‘surplus’ is paid to the organisation. This did not happen. I don’t know whether Anne-Marie was paid $10,000, $12,000 or even more but whatever the amount the issue is that the other bills should have been paid first.

I fully expect this bill to be paid as the ORFU did actually have sufficient funds to pay this bill as evidenced by the reported profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year.

I also remind you that the $350 guests to this black-tie dinner paid $250 per ticket which would have been paid with the understanding that this would cover the costs. When a function such as this is organised, the ticket price is to cover the costs of the meal, venue hire, cleaning etc. Once the bills are paid, then any surplus is genuine ‘profit’ and the organisation then can legally pocket this ‘profit’.

The fact that the ORFU pocketed this money instead of paying their bill is unacceptable.

It is time the ORFU did the decent thing and pay this bill.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

[ends]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Mayoral DISGRACE: DCC won’t ask ORFU to repay $480K bailout

█ Related Posts and Comments:
14.3.14 ORFU flush to pay creditors

The Otago Rugby Football Union has recorded a $406,800 profit, just over two years after it faced going out of business because of debts of more than $2 million. The union now has reserves of more than $500,000, and is predicting a small profit for the coming year. […] When asked whether the union would consider repaying some creditors who lost money when the deal was agreed to save the union from liquidation, Union chairman Doug Harvie said that would not happen. (ODT 14.3.14)

24.5.12 ORFU board announced

The recovery package involved the NZRU providing a long term loan for working capital of $500,000 and Dunedin City Council writing off debt of $480,000. In addition, costs have been cut and additional sponsorship arranged. […] Almost $500,000 has been raised to allow the union to settle with creditors. A total of 156 non-profit organisations and other creditors who are all owed less than $5,000 will be paid in full. The remaining 24 creditors will be repaid the first $5,000 and half of what they are owed above that. The repayments are due to be made by the end of the month. (ODT 24.5.12)

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Copy received. ODT 15.3.14 (page 14)

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/295236/council-will-not-welsh-deal

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU flush to pay creditors

When asked whether the union would consider repaying some creditors who lost money when the deal was agreed to save the union from liquidation, Union chairman Doug Harvie said that would not happen.

### ODT Online Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Profit pleases ORFU
By Steve Hepburn
The Otago Rugby Football Union has recorded a $406,800 profit, just over two years after it faced going out of business because of debts of more than $2 million.
The union now has reserves of more than $500,000, and is predicting a small profit for the coming year. […] In March 2012, the union was a few days away from going out of business, with debts of $2.2 million and creditors failing to come to agreement. But a rescue package was nailed down and the union traded its way out of difficulty, albeit with some concessions from creditors.
Read more

****

Correspondence received.

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 07:31:59 +1300

Friday 14th March 2014

Dear Doug

In today’s ODT the ORFU have reported a profit of $406,859 for the 2013 financial year and a profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year. Part of this so called profit is just pocketing of monies from unpaid bills.

As you are fully aware, the ORFU ran up a DVML bill of $25,352 for their black tie fund raiser at the stadium on 5th August 2011. This was for food, booze, soft drinks and cleaning.

Not only did the ORFU run off without paying this bill but the ORFU paid no venue hire for this brand new venue. Then to top it off the ORFU pocketed $52,000 from this fundraising event into their ‘pot’ which then is reported as profit for the 2012 financial year.

The fact that the ORFU then pressurised the Council to ‘write it off’ does not excuse the ORFU from the moral obligation to pay this bill.

I was quoted in the ODT as saying this was ‘obscene’. It is like booking a large restaurant, gorging yourselves on all their food and drink and hospitality then doing a runner.

It is ‘obscene’ and I expect this bill to be paid in full.

Laurie Mains, and his wife, Anne-Marie, refused to answer questions as to whether Anne-Marie was paid for her services in organising this event. I actually have no problem with her charging for her professional services. What I do have a problem with is that it is standard practice for professional event organisers to ensure all outstanding bills are paid before the ‘surplus’ is paid to the organisation. This did not happen. I don’t know whether Anne-Marie was paid $10,000, $12,000 or even more but whatever the amount the issue is that the other bills should have been paid first.

I fully expect this bill to be paid as the ORFU did actually have sufficient funds to pay this bill as evidenced by the reported profit of $134,656 for the 2012 financial year.

I also remind you that the $350 [sic] guests to this black-tie dinner paid $250 per ticket which would have been paid with the understanding that this would cover the costs. When a function such as this is organised, the ticket price is to cover the costs of the meal, venue hire, cleaning etc. Once the bills are paid, then any surplus is genuine ‘profit’ and the organisation then can legally pocket this ‘profit’.

The fact that the ORFU pocketed this money instead of paying their bill is unacceptable.

It is time the ORFU did the decent thing and pay this bill.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

——————————

From: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 20:16:32 +0000

You have your facts wrong Bev – ALL creditors of ORFU have been satisfied in full, in one way or another.

I will not be responding to any further correspondence on this matter.

D J Harvie
Partner

Harvie Green Wyatt
(P O Box 5740, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand. Phone +64 3 4775005 or +64 21 2234169. Fax +64 3 4775447

——————————

From: Bev Butler
To: Doug Harvie [ORFU]
CC: Steve Hepburn [ODT]
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsible for paying the black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:43:19 +1300

Dear Doug

Saying that “ALL creditors have been satisfied in full, in one way or another” is not the same as saying that all creditors have been PAID in full.
I know it is uncomfortable for you to be reminded of this but it still does not excuse the ORFU from doing the decent thing and paying their obscene black-tie dinner given they already had the money but decided to pocket it instead.
How about showing some decency or goodwill towards those that bailed you out of your financial mess now that you are flush with $406,859 profit?

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

[ends]

For more, enter the terms *orfu*, *dinner*, *jeremy curragh*, *bailout*, *martin legge*, *dia*, *pokies*, *jokers*, *ttcf*, or *pokie rorts* in the search box at left.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Apology requested from ORFU [email]

This after news the mayoral defamation suit has been settled out of court. So far, we know the action has cost ratepayers a minimum of $29,000 – it’s likely to cost all citizens far more, given everything that’s riding on ORFU not being investigated, and the relationship ORFU enjoys with Dunedin City Council and council-owned companies. You have Mayor Dave Cull to thank, in no small way.

—

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: laurie.mains@comlink.co.nz; wgraham.admiral@ljh.co.nz
CC: hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz; chris.morris@odt.co.nz; wilma.mc@dscene.co.nz; mike.houlahan@dscene.co.nz; shayes@tv3.co.nz; max.bania@tvnz.co.nz; krissymoreau@mediaworks.co.nz; dgoosselink@mediaworks.co.nz; morningreport@radionz.co.nz; reporters@press.co.nz; david.williams@press.co.nz; news@radionz.co.nz
Subject: Apology requested from ORFU
Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 22:29:05 +1300

Sunday 30th November 2012 [sic]

Dear Laurie and Wayne

The black tie dinner DVML bill has still not been paid.
In the Mayor’s apology in yesterday’s ODT, the Mayor says he understands that Laurie and other ORFU Board members contributed personal funds to pay small creditors. The Mayor also says he doesn’t question the honesty or sincerity of either of you in this process.
But, what about the honesty and sincerity of paying your food, booze and cleaning bill for the black tie dinner?
I still expect this bill to be paid along with an apology for late payment.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

——————————————————————————–
From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: laurie.mains@comlink.co.nz; wgraham.admiral@ljh.co.nz
Subject: Defamation spoils
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:11:40 +1200

Tuesday 24th July 2012

Dear Laurie and Wayne

The black tie dinner DVML bill has still not been paid.
Thought I would email you again and ask Laurie if his wife, Anne Marie, intends paying back the $10,000+ she paid herself before paying all the other bills?
My understanding is that professional event organisers ALWAYS pay ALL the bills before handing over the ‘surplus’. Remember Jeremy Curragh stated that $52,000 went into the ‘pot’ but as we know some of the bills hadn’t been paid. Your mate, Ian Taylor, was obviously annoyed but as he has now quietened down, is it safe to assume he was paid off?

As for the defamation, if you get a nice wee tidy sum out of the ratepayers, what do you intend doing with it?
Will you pay the black tie dinner DVML bill then?
Or build another multi-million dollar house to make yourselves feel like you’ve really, really made it?
Maybe you could explain to me why you are suing Cull ie the city.
What did he say that was untrue? I read his comments and thought they were rather tame compared to what I think of the ORFU. As reported in the ODT I thought it was obscene the ORFU running off after their black tie dinner and not paying their bill for all the booze, food and cleaning. Still think that.

Spare a thought in your quieter moments, sitting in your multi-million dollar houses in Wanaka, for the little old ladies in South Dunedin who can’t afford to heat their homes in winter. Some of them go to bed during the day to keep warm. And you two still only see your glass as half full. Take another look. Your glasses are already bulging. Why do you want to take more money from the city, from the poor who barely have enough to keep themselves warm?

I hear your ‘feelings were hurt’ at the ORFU being referred to as ‘incompetent’.
Is it competent to run off without paying your bills?
Is it competent to put $52,000 in your own ‘pot’ and not pay those bills?
Is it competent to even call it a surplus when all the bills were not paid?
Is it competent to apply for grants from community trusts and then use that money for unauthorised purposes?
Is it competent to set up 3 pokies bars in South Auckland and siphon off the money ($6m) to ORFU?
Is it competent to run a business and spend more than you earn year after year after year?

Thought the following story just might reach your tenderloins if not your loins:

Poor pair give cash find to Brazil police (Link)
10:03 Tue Jul 10 2012AAP

A homeless Brazilian couple have found a garbage bag filled with money and promptly handed it to police.
Officials said the pair were out for a dawn stroll when they found a briefcase and a garbage bag filled with 20,000 reals ($A10,000).

They alerted police.

“When we arrived, the couple gave us the money. It might be the money stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant,” said military police spokesman Bruno dos Santos on Monday.

The pair “had the opportunity to flee with the money … What they did is commendable,” he said.
Jesus Silva Santos, the man who found the money, said he earned about 14 reals a day from collecting rubbish for recycling.

“My mother taught me never to steal,” he said.

[ends]

—

Related Posts:
24.7.12 Sweet nothings [email], yo Laurie and Wayne!
14.6.12 Silence on debt run up at ORFU black-tie dinner
26.5.12 DIA media release
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
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

Sweet nothings [email], yo Laurie and Wayne!

Received.

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: laurie.mains@comlink.co.nz; wgraham.admiral@ljh.co.nz
Subject: Defamation spoils
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:11:40 +1200

Tuesday 24th July 2012

Dear Laurie and Wayne

The black tie dinner DVML bill has still not been paid.
Thought I would email you again and ask Laurie if his wife, Annemarie, intends paying back the $10,000+ she paid herself before paying all the other bills?
My understanding is that professional event organisers ALWAYS pay ALL the bills before handing over the ‘surplus’. Remember Jeremy Curragh stated that $52,000 went into the ‘pot’ but as we know some of the bills hadn’t been paid. Your mate, Ian Taylor, was obviously annoyed but as he has now quietened down, is it safe to assume he was paid off?

As for the defamation, if you get a nice wee tidy sum out of the ratepayers, what do you intend doing with it?
Will you pay the black tie dinner DVML bill then?
Or build another multi-million dollar house to make yourselves feel like you’ve really, really made it?
Maybe you could explain to me why you are suing Cull ie the city.
What did he say that was untrue? I read his comments and thought they were rather tame compared to what I think of the ORFU. As reported in the ODT I thought it was obscene the ORFU running off after their black tie dinner and not paying their bill for all the booze, food and cleaning. Still think that.

Spare a thought in your quieter moments, sitting in your multi-million dollar houses in Wanaka, for the little old ladies in South Dunedin who can’t afford to heat their homes in winter. Some of them go to bed during the day to keep warm. And you two still only see your glass as half full. Take another look. Your glasses are already bulging. Why do you want to take more money from the city, from the poor who barely have enough to keep themselves warm?

I hear your ‘feelings were hurt’ at the ORFU being referred to as ‘incompetent’.
Is it competent to run off without paying your bills?
Is it competent to put $52,000 in your own ‘pot’ and not pay those bills?
Is it competent to even call it a surplus when all the bills were not paid?
Is it competent to apply for grants from community trusts and then use that money for unauthorised purposes?
Is it competent to set up 3 pokies bars in South Auckland and siphon off the money ($6m) to ORFU?
Is it competent to run a business and spend more than you earn year after year after year?

Thought the following story just might reach your tenderloins if not your loins:

Poor pair give cash find to Brazil police (Link)
10:03 Tue Jul 10 2012AAP

A homeless Brazilian couple have found a garbage bag filled with money and promptly handed it to police.
Officials said the pair were out for a dawn stroll when they found a briefcase and a garbage bag filled with 20,000 reals ($A10,000).

They alerted police.

“When we arrived, the couple gave us the money. It might be the money stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant,” said military police spokesman Bruno dos Santos on Monday.

The pair “had the opportunity to flee with the money … What they did is commendable,” he said.
Jesus Silva Santos, the man who found the money, said he earned about 14 reals a day from collecting rubbish for recycling.

“My mother taught me never to steal,” he said.

Sincerely

Bev Butler

Ph 4776861

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ORFU board responsibility for black-tie dinner bill [emails]

No response received.

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: eion.edgar@forbar.co.nz; asread@xtra.co.nz; wgraham.admiral@ljh.co.nz; laurie.mains@comlink.co.nz; dickb@es.co.nz; dave.callon@sharenz.com; j.a.faulks@xtra.co.nz; ayrdene@farmside.co.nz; russell@cassidylaw.co.nz; abrooney@xtra.co.nz; john.hammer@nz.pwc.com
CC: chris.morris@odt.co.nz; murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz
Subject: RE: ORFU board responsibility for payment of black tie dinner bill
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:05:16 +1200

Dear Eion, Adrian, Wayne, Laurie, Dick, Dave, John, Willis, Russell, Andrew and John,

You still haven’t paid your bill.
So we have amongst you a combination of a self appointed philanthropist, a lawyer, an accountant, a broker, a farmer, a surgeon and a couple of suers.
Not a good look that those professionals amongst you adhere to such obscene behaviour. Is this how you advise your clients to behave in your respective businesses?
And more importantly is this how you do business?
Is there not one independent thinker amongst you?
Or do you act as one mob when the leader lowers the cone of silence?
I do expect this bill to be paid.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—

Related Posts:
14.6.12 Silence on debt run up at ORFU black-tie dinner
26.5.12 DIA media release
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Silence on debt run up at ORFU black-tie dinner

No response received.

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: eion.edgar@forbar.co.nz; asread@xtra.co.nz; wgraham.admiral@ljh.co.nz; laurie.mains@comlink.co.nz; dickb@es.co.nz; dave.callon@sharenz.com; j.a.faulks@xtra.co.nz; ayrdene@farmside.co.nz; russell@cassidylaw.co.nz; abrooney@xtra.co.nz; john.hammer@nz.pwc.com
CC: chris.morris@odt.co.nz; murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz
Subject: ORFU board responsibility for payment of black tie dinner bill
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 10:35:57 +1200

Dear Eion, Adrian, Wayne, Laurie, Dick, Dave, John, Willis, Russell, Andrew and John

As you are all fully aware, the ORFU ran up a DVML bill of $25,352 for your black tie fund raiser at the stadium on 5th August 2011. This was for food, booze, soft drinks and cleaning.

Not only did the ORFU run off without paying this bill but the ORFU paid no venue hire for this brand new venue. Then to top it off the ORFU pocketed $52,000 from this fundraising event into their ‘pot’.

The fact that the ORFU then pressurised the Council to ‘write it off’ does not excuse any of you from the moral obligation to pay this bill.

I was quoted in the ODT as saying this was ‘obscene’. It is like booking a large restaurant, gorging yourselves on all their food and drink and hospitality then doing a runner.

It is ‘obscene’ and I expect this bill to be paid in full.

Eion, I am not asking you to be philanthropic, just support the paying of the bill like any decent person would.

Laurie, I noticed you and your wife, Anne-Marie, refuse to answer questions as to whether Anne-Marie was paid for her services in organising this event. I actually have no problem with her charging for her professional services. What I do have a problem with is that it is standard practice for professional event organisers to ensure all outstanding bills are paid before the ‘surplus’ is paid to the organisation. This did not happen. I don’t know whether Anne-Marie was paid $10,000, $12,000 or even more but whatever the amount the issue is that the other bills should have been paid first.

I fully expect this bill to be paid.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Again: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: jcurragh@xtra.co.nz
CC: hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz; murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz; craig.page@odt.co.nz
Subject: The ORFU scandal, missing trust monies and reported fraudulent activities
Date: Sun, 27 May 2012 21:39:11 +1200

Sunday 27th May 2012

Dear Jeremy

You have still not responded to my emails dated Sunday 20th May and Wednesday 23rd May 2012.
This is not a good look as I was expecting some reassurance from you, as the ORFU change manager, re perceived financial irregularities of ORFU.
To date, you have chosen not to name the trusts involved in the missing money, you have given no reassurance that the ORFU were not trading illegally while insolvent, you have offered no public apology to the amateur rugby clubs who have missed out on receiving the public money the ORFU applied for, you have offered no explanation how you see nothing illegal about spending public money on unauthorised purposes, you have offered no explanation why the ORFU did not pay their $25,352 DVML party/booze bill, pocketing $52,000 from the event then continuing to hock up other bills around town.

Now we have a report from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) website and ODT that “an elderly man who ripped off pokies community grants to the tune of $605,550 has been sentenced to community detention”. Judge Charles Blackie called the case a “very elaborate scam”. There appear to be a number of similarities in this case and the ORFU case.

I will outline the similarities as follows:

1. Counties Manukau Bowls (CMB)
The DIA found numerous fraudulent grant applications to gaming machine societies from Counties Manukau Bowls (CMB), an umbrella organisation for south Auckland bowling clubs. Noel Henry Gibbons implemented a scheme in which constituent clubs or CMB would invest indirectly in hotels where poker machines operated so that, in turn, those clubs could benefit from grants of pokies proceeds.
Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU)
In the SST it was recently reported that the ORFU had invested in three South Auckland bars and were siphoning money over a few years to the tune of $5m.

2. Counties Manukau Bowls (CMB)
Gibbons also applied for grants from gaming machine societies for bowling machine maintenance, using the money to illegally repay loans for the purchase of hotels.
Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU)
The ORFU have been spending monies from unnamed trusts for unauthorised purposes. This has occurred on many occasions and the money has gone ‘in the pot’.

3. Counties Manukau Bowls (CMB)
Judge Blackie said Gibbons knew he acted dishonestly each time he made a false application at the expense of the community.
Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU)
I do not have any information re false applications except that the ORFU continued to make applications to unnamed trusts and used this public money for unauthorised purposes.
The black-tie dinner also has similarities in that the ORFU deliberately ran off without paying their $25,352 DVML bill whilst pocketing $52,000 into their own pot.

Jeremy, you have not offered any assurances as outlined above and in my previous emails nor have you indicated whether you have reported the ORFU irregularities to the appropriate authorities.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—

Related Posts and Comments:
26.5.12 DIA media release
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

New board for ORFU not formed, deadline shifts for bailout

### ODT Online Wed, 23 May 2012
Rugby: Wait for new ORFU board continues
By Steve Hepburn
The wait continues. The new board of the Otago Rugby Football Union was not named yesterday as expected as negotiations drag on over an agreement between parties involved in the bail-out of the union. The union came to an agreement with its major creditors in March to stave off liquidation and that agreement was to be finalised by the middle of this month. But contracts were still being worked on by parties and had not been signed off by yesterday.
Read more

QUESTION In light of revelations about the ORFU’s unauthorised use of funds received from charitable trusts to solve its liquidity problems, and if the ORFU has been trading while insolvent, is the Dunedin City Council reconsidering its position in regards to the ORFU bailout package? It should, the Council owes ORFU nothing.

—

Related Posts:
23.5.12 Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
22.5.12 Join ORFU board, without forensic audit to show how millions…
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
18.5.12 Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

NZRU-appointed change manager talks

Grants for sport are a legitimate authorised purpose under the Gambling Act, but grants could not be used to pay for professional sport.

### ODT Online Wed, 23 May 2012
Grants meant for amateur rugby used to pay ORFU creditors
By Hamish McNeilly
Grants earmarked for the amateur rugby game were used by the Otago Rugby Football Union to pay creditors, New Zealand Rugby Union appointed change manager Jeremy Curragh has confirmed. He said yesterday all pokie grants received within the last financial year had been accounted for, with $65,000 to be returned to trusts as the money was not spent on its authorised purpose. In one example, a $25,000 grant from a local trust was supposed to have been paid to the Dunedin City Council for ground rentals for club and school matches, but was instead used by the union to pay other creditors.

Staff had applied for grants while the union was fighting off liquidation, as there always was the “intention they can avoid liquidation”.

Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Latest: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: jcurragh@xtra.co.nz
CC: hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz; murray.kirkness@odt.co.nz; craig.page@odt.co.nz
Subject: The ORFU scandal and missing trust monies
Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 09:14:36 +1200

Wednesday 23rd May 2012

Dear Jeremy

You have still not responded to my email below dated Sunday 20th May 2012.

The front page news in today’s ODT now brings up further concerns.
1. It is reported that the ORFU misappropriated not just $25,000 from one trust but has now owned up to $65,000 missing from a number of trusts.
What are the names of these trusts and why has this not been reported? The ORFU is not being upfront in naming these trusts.
Has the ORFU put any pressure on these trusts to remain silent? This is public money missing and is incumbent on the ORFU to come clean and name these trusts.
Until these trusts are named there is no way the ORFU can be made accountable for any present repayments to those trusts.
Is there other money missing from other trusts not yet owned up to by the ORFU?
2. It is now clear that the ORFU were trading while insolvent – that is why they used the trust money for unauthorised purposes.
It is reported that ORFU staff applied for grants while the union was fighting off liquidation as there always was the “intention they can avoid liquidation”. This contradicts your following statement “However, no grant would have been banked or received if liquidation was an issue…..”
3. I note in today’s ODT report that the ORFU offer no apology to the club rugby for missing out on these monies. I note the ORFU in their arrogance offer no apology to the public for the misappropriation of this public money. The ORFU offer no remorse just your comment of “it has not been ideal the way Otago has treated the grants”. That is an understatement.
You are then quoted as saying: “There is nothing illegal other than (money didn’t go) where it should have.” This appears to be minimising the problem. Now we have been caught out we will pay it back. Sorry, Jeremy, this is not good enough. Please explain how you see nothing illegal about spending public money on unauthorised purposes.
The trust money was for amateur sport and they did not receive that money. It is illegal under the Gambling Act for trust money to be spent on professional sport.
4. As a Dunedin ratepayer, I am appalled at the ORFU hocking up their DVML $25,352 party/booze bill, pocketing $52,000 from the event, and then refusing to pay the bill. They then continue to hock up further bills around town. The sheer arrogance of these actions is reprehensible.

I have received a few calls from rugby supporters concerned about the financial irregularities apparent in the ORFU. These strong rugby supporters, one of which has been involved with club rugby for many years, have expressed their abhorrence of the actions of the ORFU.
I do expect a reply to my previous email as well as this one as it is a public issue.

I have blind copied other interested media.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/210293/grants-meant-amateur-rugby-used-pay-orfu-creditors

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

—

Related Posts:
20.5.12 Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]
18.5.12 Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Update: Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

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

—

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

—

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

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Oh, Mr Curragh… [emails]

Correspondence received.

—

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: RE: ORFU $25,000 received from a trust for DVML
Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 09:38:07 +1200

Friday 18th May 2012

Dear Jeremy

Thank you for your response to my second email, dated Wednesday 16th May 2012, where you confirm the ORFU failed to pay the $25,000 to the DCC.
You have, however, not explained where the $25,000 went to. You admit it did not go to the DCC for ground rentals, as was intended by the unnamed trust, but no explanation is offered as to what happened to this public money. Even if, as you say the DCC has “written it off” it still does not explain where that money went to.
As change manager it is your responsibility to find this missing $25,000.
I note that you have not answered my request as to whether you would support a forensic audit of the ORFU to find this missing $25,000 along with other unanswered financial irregularities.
Especially given that you don’t seem to have found the missing $25,000, which amounts to an admission that it is missing, can you give any re-assurance that the ORFU were not trading while insolvent?

I note that you also have not responded to the queries I had in my email dated Thursday 17th May (copied below for your convenience) namely:
As change manager you have had access to the ORFU’s books so I repeat my request: Do you support a forensic audit of the ORFU? If not, why not? And, have you found the missing $25,000?
Why did the ORFU put $52,000 ‘in the pot’ and not pay their $25,352 bill to DVML for the Black-tie dinner?

I have blind copied this email to other interested media.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

——————————–

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: Wed, 16 May 2012 12:25:10 +1200

Thanks for your letter and apologies for the delay.
There have been no grants made by ORFU to fund any DVML costs.

The ORFU have received grants to pay for DCC ground rentals which maybe what you are referring to. This relates to ground rents which are used for club and school rugby games as well as club and school rugby trainings. This is for approximately $25,000 pa.

As per earlier media reports I can confirm this amount was not paid to the DCC and is included in the $400k written off by DCC.

I hope this clarifies the situation

Jeremy Curragh

——————————–

From: bev butler [mailto:bevkiwi@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 16 May 2012 11:15 a.m.
To: Jeremy Curragh
Cc: murray kirkness; craig page; chris morris; hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
Subject: FW: ORFU $25,000 received from a trust for DVML

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Dear Jeremy

You have not responded to my email below.
Where is the $25,000 paid from a trust to the ORFU?
It never reached DVML as was the intention.
This is public money and needs to be accounted for.

Would you as change manager support the call for a forensic audit of the ORFU given that now you have had many months to establish the financial situation?

I have copied this to the ODT as they first reported about this missing $25,000 and I have blind copied other interested media.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

—

Thursday 17 May 2012

Dear Jeremy

You still have not responded to my emails below.
It is now reported in today’s ODT(see below) that the “TTCF’s relationship with ORFU is alleged to have been behind the more than $5m in grants given to the cash-strapped union”.
Also in the report it states that the Office of the Auditor-General was keeping in touch with Internal Affairs over this issue.
Added to this is the previous report in the ODT(see below) that $25,000 granted by an unnamed trust to ORFU never reached the DCC.
And finally, the Office of the Ombudsman is investigating DVML’s part in the ORFU’S Black-tie dinner.
As change manager you have had access to the ORFU’s books so I repeat my request: Do you support a forensic audit of the ORFU? If not, why not? And, have you found the missing $25,000?
Why did the ORFU put $52,000 ‘in the pot’ and not pay their $25,352 bill to DVML for the Black-tie dinner?
I have found that if one sticks to the facts and the truth then one has nothing to fear. You have been appointed as a change manager to set things right and yet you are not responding on this issue. Why?

I have blind copied this to interested media.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

{The full text of the news story (ODT 17.5.12) is attached to the email, along with another news item (ODT 9.3.12) – we provide the weblinks here. -Eds}

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/209536/pokies-trust-under-scrutiny
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/200707/orfu-queries-over-pokie-grants

——————————–

From: bevkiwi@hotmail.com
To: jcurragh@xtra.co.nz
Subject: ORFU $25,000 received from a trust for DVML
Date: Sun, 13 May 2012 13:26:52 +1200

Sunday 13th May 2012

Dear Jeremy

You may recall I met you in the public gallery at the DCC council bailout meeting back in March.
I asked you if you had been able to locate the $25,000 paid to the ORFU by a trust for the purposes of venue hire from DVML.
You said you hadn’t found it yet and were still looking into it.
My query is, have you now been able to locate it?
As a ratepayer it is actually money owing to me so I really do have a financial interest in your finding it.
Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Bev Butler

[ends]

—

Related Post and Comments:
2.5.12 Ratepayers pay for ORFU black tie dinner at stadium
29.4.12 Department of Internal Affairs, the gambling authority
22.4.12 DIA, OAG, TTCF and Otago Rugby swim below the line
17.4.12 ORFU still owes small creditors ($687,000), DCC ($480,000+), NZRU ($500,000) and BNZ ($1,200,000)

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Submission to DCC draft long term plan (2)

By Bev Butler

The Long Term Plan [2012/2022] as a document is only beneficial to the community when it fully incorporates the probable financial outcomes for the city. This Long Term Plan has not taken into account the financial future of the stadium. (The DVML six-monthly report has been delayed until after submissions close). The DVML report will reveal that the stadium is running at a multimillion dollar loss and it is now time to do a cost-benefit analysis of whether it is financially viable for the stadium to remain open or not. The results of a cost-benefit analysis of the stadium would then put the city in a clearer position to then make decisions for the future. The city in its present overwhelming debt situation can ill-afford to continue to sustain the stadium multimillion dollar losses. The Council has been capitalising interest for the last few years to the tune of over $40m. This situation if allowed to continue will eventually result in bankruptcy.

The main anchor tenant of the stadium (the ORFU) is technically insolvent and has already come to Council requesting a bailout. The Dunedin ratepayers cannot afford to keep on bailing out the ORFU. It will not be long before the ORFU again request another bailout. This has been the pattern over many years. I have no confidence that the ORFU bailout conditions will be met just as the stadium conditions were not met (see attached spreadsheet).

The council has to change its mindset that ‘what is good for Otago rugby is good for Dunedin/ Otago.’ Clearly, on a financial basis, this has not been true for many years. It is not the DCC’s role to continually ‘wet nurse’ the rugby interests in this town by caving in to their repeated, self=destructive mode of operating. Namely, their calling on public funds when they get into financial trouble.

It has become clearer as Official Information has been released that the process that led to the building of the stadium was corrupt. I request that the Council instigate a full independent inquiry into the whole stadium project so that those responsible for misleading the community are held to account. Until this happens the stadium will continue to divide the community.

Ratepayers pay for ORFU black-tie dinner at stadium

In March, a letter to the editor (ODT, 24.3.12) by Cr Lee Vandervis raised questions to which ORFU’s Wayne Graham gave a nothing reply. Indeed, we’d all been wondering what ORFU’s extra debt of $80,000 to DCC stood for, to be written off in the bailout package. We had heard an ORFU party at the stadium was part responsible (comment). It was not long before an official information request went to Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) from one of our readers. Related comments on the thread start here.

****

This is totally inappropriate spending of public money. -Bev Butler

### D Scene 2.5.12 (page 3)
Stadium booze tab picked up by ratepayers
By Wilma McCorkindale
An Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) party and booze bill in excess of $25,000 is among debts written off in a bailout of the cash-strapped organisation by Dunedin Venues Management (DVML) and the Dunedin City Council (DCC), according to stadium opponent Bev Butler […] she obtained copies of the offending invoices through an official information request. “[I was] shocked to learn that [an] ORFU party was part of the ORFU bailout. On August 5 last year the ORFU held a Black Tie dinner at the stadium. The expenses, including thousands of dollars on booze was put on hock.” Butler said among the paperwork obtained was a response from DVML showing the ORFU owed DVML $73,164 excluding GST or $84,140 including GST. “This was for the black tie dinner on August 5, 2011. All the figures are blacked out but I do know from DVML that the Black Tie dinner was $25,352 (incl GST).”
{continues} #bookmark

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May 2, 2012 at 3:31 pm
UPDATE- See this thread for news and reaction to the defamation action taken against the Mayor of Dunedin by two members of the ORFU Board, acting on their own account. We think the ‘dinner tab’ story puts the defamation action in a handsome light. God only knows what the action does to the ORFU bailout deal, supposedly to be wrapped up by 16 May.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr