By SCOTT INGLIS
The wife of fugitive Brian Curtis has spoken publicly for the first time about her husband, saying reports he has been living in Tonga are part of a smear campaign against her brother, Tonga's Police Minister.
Georgina Curtis has told the Herald that political rivals of her brother, former prominent Auckland lawyer Clive Edwards, are trying to imply he has let Curtis live in Tonga.
Brian James Curtis, a druglord regarded as "The Godfather" among criminals and inmates, masterminded a breakout from the country's toughest jail at Paremoremo on August 18, 1993.
He was serving life terms for importing heroin.
Once described by a High Court judge as "a greedy, evil man," Curtis vanished but fellow escaper and convicted murderer Michael Bullock was recaptured in June 1999.
Last Thursday, Curtis made headlines again, this time in Tonga, where the Times of Tonga published an article saying that he was rumoured to be living there. The report prompted a number of people to come forward, saying they had seen a man they swore was Curtis living on a yacht near Tonga's Royal Sunset Resort.
A former New Zealand detective sergeant, Josh Liava'a, also claimed that Tonga had become a big drugs shipment point, thanks to the influence of Curtis, and that people at the highest level in Tonga were involved.
Tongan police are now trying to find the man who was living on the yacht and New Zealand police are awaiting developments.
They have raided the yacht and the resort but found have no sign of him.
Georgina Curtis, of Auckland, said the latest reports were part of a long-standing campaign against her brother.
It was possible her husband had been in Tonga, but she considered it highly unlikely.
The pair married in the 1960s. About that time Curtis became famous for diving for treasure said to be on a sunken ship in Tongan waters.
Mrs Curtis said her relatives and locals in Tonga knew Curtis and she believed they would have turned him in had they caught him.
The couple were still married when Curtis was jailed in 1991 but she said they had not talked since he escaped.
"I have no idea where he is."
Mrs Curtis said she had tried hard to put her past behind her but insisted her husband was not the evil man portrayed by authorities.
"I see him differently from how they see him. That's their opinion."
Her brother last night told the Herald from Tonga that political rivals out to get him were using Curtis as a weapon.
"There's no doubt about that, there's been a campaign against me since last October."
Curtis, he said, had been disowned by his family and there were police orders to arrest him immediately if he were found in Tonga.
North Shore-based Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Bush, in charge of the hunt for Curtis, said he was waiting to hear from the Tongan police. He was cautious about the latest sightings.
"There's always been speculation that he's been in this area. It's possible this is just a continuation of this speculation."
Detective Senior Sergeant Bush said that if the man seen by locals was in fact Curtis, he would have long since vanished again.
'Smear campaign' behind Curtis tipoffs
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