KEY POINTS:
Former State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham knew in 2004 there were questions about qualifications listed in Mary Anne Thompson's CV - but did not pass on the information to his successor or any Government ministers.
Yesterday, the State Services Commission sent its file on the former head of
immigration's qualifications to the police to investigate and decide whether to lay charges. Ms Thompson resigned from her $200,000-plus job on Monday.
She will be investigated by police over allegations she doctored her CV to get senior roles in the public service, including in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The investigation centres on a PhD from the London School of Economics which Ms Thompson allegedly said she had.
The LSE has since said it has no record of Ms Thompson gaining a PhD.
A spokesman for the SSC yesterday confirmed Mr Wintringham had known in 2004 but had not passed it on to his successor, Mark Prebble. Dr Prebble had found out last week.
"[Mr Wintringham] made his own judgment about how to handle the matter at that time. Mark Prebble and Iain Rennie [the new State Services Commissioner] have made a different decision."
Mr Wintringham's knowledge of the doubts over the CV was revealed in a letter from Ms Thompson's lawyer, Helen Aikman, to an SSC lawyer which was accidentally sent to NZPA.
Yesterday Mr Wintringham confirmed he had spoken to Dr Prebble after the SSC began its investigation into residency permits given to Ms Thompson's relatives from Kiribati.
He would not say whether he had passed on the information about Ms Thompson to Dr Prebble during that discussion or what he knew about her qualifications in 2004. It is unclear whether Mr Wintringham took any action in 2004 - the year Ms Thompson left the DPMC.
Ms Aikman's letter to the SSC lawyer suggested the haste to take action now despite knowing about the allegations since 2004 was politically driven.
Yesterday, Ms Aikman would not comment on the contents of the letter she wrote to SSC chief legal adviser David Shanks on Thursday, saying it was privileged.
She said Ms Thompson would co-operate with the investigation and looked forward to the chance "for all information to be presented".
NZPA reported that Ms Aikman's letter stated the timeframe within which she was expected to respond to the SSC allegations was "totally unacceptable" and she believed it would "in all likelihood" be referred to police.
"The fact the commission took no action on these allegations for so long, but now wants to deal with the matter with unseemly haste, is suggestive of political concerns rather than simply good administration of the public service," the lawyer said.
Yesterday, the former head of the Department of Labour, James Buwalda, would not comment.
National Party deputy leader Gerry Brownlee said it was unbelievable that Government ministers were not told in 2004 about such grave concerns about an employee of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
However, Acting Minister Michael Cullen yesterday said government ministers had not known about the qualifications until last week.
The police inquiry is expected to focus on applications Ms Thompson made in 1990 - when she first entered the public service as an economist with the Ministry of Maori Affairs - and again in 1998 when she moved to the Prime Minister's staff.