National Party candidate Mark Mitchell. Photo / Supplied
National candidate Mark Mitchell has resigned his executive role with a military logistics group whose subsidiary is accused of defrauding the American military of US$8.5 billion ($11.24b) in regard to a contract to supply food to US troops in Iraq.
The Orewa man was chief security officer of Kuwait-based Agility
Logistics, part of a multinational group of companies.
Mitchell says his part of Agility had little to do with the US arm that is denying and fighting the fraud charges. "That's a totally separate company that's based out of the US," he said yesterday.
Last night, Mitchell issued a statement: "I was an executive in a large global company. This dispute involves a contract that I had (and have) no involvement with."
Mitchell should be a shoo-in for the safe National seat of Rodney - though millionaire Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is mounting a determined challenge.
