Davy twice bankrupted in Canada

By LOUISA CLEAVE, CATHERINE MASTERS, SCOTT MacLEOD and AUDREY YOUNG

HERALD INQUIRY - Sacked chief executive John Davy was declared a bankrupt in Canada twice before being hired to head the Maori Television Service.

Insolvency records show he became a bankrupt in 1980 while living in Ottawa and had a second judgment against him 13 years later in Whistler, British Columbia.

His liabilities totalled nearly $80,000 and his assets were $6000. He is still technically bankrupt because he received only a conditional discharge on the second bankruptcy.

As more details of his past emerged, Mr Davy last night mounted a television public relations offensive over his credentials.

He admitted parts of his academic and financial record had been changed but claimed it was because he undertook a "forensic" assignment for a group of companies in the 1980s in which a substantial sum of money was recovered.

He said he was placed in a witness protection programme, under which he retained his birth name but had financial and academic details "wiped out".

Last week, the Maori Television Service board said Mr Davy had carried out "highly confidential" work for the British Columbia Securities Commission.

But the commission said it had no record of him.

Last night, Mr Davy also continued to insist he held an MBA from Denver University - though the university has no record of him.

Other developments in the Davy saga include:

* Finance Minister Michael Cullen said Mr Davy had applied for the position of chief financial officer at Maori Television but recruitment agency Millennium People suggested he be upgraded to chief executive.

* Dr Cullen ordered reports from the State Services Commission and the Treasury into Millennium People.

* He also attacked Maori Television chairman Derek Fox in Parliament, saying he should not have defended "conman and fraudster" Mr Davy before inquiries had been finished.

* Mr Davy sent a letter to the Maori Television Service on Saturday, offering to resign for "adjusting my background".

* Millennium People was paid $70,000 for its work on the appointment of Mr Davy and three other high-ranked employees.

* Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has asked officials to investigate his immigration status.

Mr Davy was fired on Monday, 46 days after his appointment and following a Herald investigation which found resume irregularities in connection with his previous employer, academic background and professional history.

As news of Mr Davy's sacking circulated around Canada, the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper searched records at the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, establishing that Mr Davy had twice been bankrupt.

In 1980, he was filed for bankruptcy while living in Ottawa, Ontario, with total liabilities of $13,500 and assets of $1500.

He was declared bankrupt again in Whistler, owing a total of $65,880 and having total assets worth $4500.

His discharge from the first bankruptcy was absolute, but he received only a conditional discharge on the second.

On television last night, Mr Davy denied he was a crook and insisted he was "for real".

Although he loved "fantasising", he worked hard to "deliver the goods".

Mr Davy briefly spoke to reporters yesterday from behind the front door of his rented Kohimarama home, saying his family were "petrified" and would have to leave New Zealand.

He has been living here on a one-year permit.

"My wife and family are in harm's way," he said. "It's unfortunate - very, very unfortunate. It's something I will have to deal with in my own life, bear the consequences."

Mr Davy ordered the Herald off his property. Soon after, he was seen to walk into his kitchen and briefly dance a jig with his wife.

Dr Cullen said enormous questions about Mr Davy's credibility remained, including the matter of a non-existent degree.

He noted that Mr Davy applied for the position of chief financial officer at the television service, before Millennium People suggested he be upgraded to chief executive officer.

Dr Cullen yesterday ordered reports from the State Services Commission and Treasury into how Millennium People was appointed, what other work it had done for Government agencies, and the quality of that work.

The agency's public relations representative did not return calls from the Herald, but in a previous statement it said its checks into Mr Davy's background were defeated by a sophisticated fraudster.

In Parliament, Dr Cullen said Derek Fox should not have defended the "conman and fraudster" before inquiries had been complete, or accused the Herald of Maori-bashing.

But Mr Fox's mistake was not enough to warrant his resignation.

Opposition MPs want the Serious Fraud Office called in.

The Government has stood behind Mr Fox and the board.

Mr Fox yesterday looked grim and tired at the Maori Television Service office in Parnell, which had a notice on the front door: "Maori Television - not open to public or media".

He said a third party was recovering $20,000 lent to Mr Davy.

Asked if the Government had full confidence in the board, Helen Clark said: "We do - and we have confidence in Mr Fox as the pre-eminent Maori broadcaster of his generation with a vision for Maori television."

Speaking in a snap debate, Dr Cullen said: "Mr Fox on Friday should have waited for inquiries to be complete before making any further statement in relation to Mr Davy."

Treasury officials were working on a report at that point on Mr Davy's background.

He did not agree with Mr Fox's accusation that the Herald inquiry was Maori-bashing.

"I do not believe the journalist at the New Zealand Herald and others who legitimately investigated Mr Davy's background can be accused in any way, shape or form of Maori-bashing in this regard.

"It was a legitimate exercise in journalism, and indeed it is somewhat unusual to see successful investigative journalism in New Zealand as opposed to what passes for that in the National Business Review every Friday."

Dr Cullen said it was not appropriate for him to order the Serious Fraud Office to undertake an inquiry. But he challenged Opposition MPs to lay complaints.

In Mr Davy's letter to the board of directors, dated April 27, he admits he lied about his background.

"This is due to an international forensic audit assignment undertaken by me in mid-1980s.

"To facilitate my assignment I was given protection that included 'adjusting my background' so that any linkage to my real name could not be made. This unfortunately included my financial and academic history."

In an email to a Canadian journalist on Sunday, Mr Davy criticised New Zealand's treatment of Maori.

"If you think our Canadian Tribes had it bad for their fight for independence and the black people had it bad in South Africa, wait till you hear what I have to say about the way white New Zealanders treat their Maori Tribes and all who try to help them, including me," he said.

"There is no shortage of racism and oppression against Maori here."

Mr Davy told the journalist that he did not need any further bad press from Canada as he might have to return there "and regroup my life".

Full coverage: Maori TV