Tasman Pacific CEO fined $32,000

12.30pm

Former Qantas New Zealand chief executive Kevin Doddrell was fined $32,000 today after pleading guilty on Friday to charges of failing to complete the airline's financial accounts.

Doddrell was fined $27,000 in relation to his role as chief executive of Tasman Pacific, which operated as Qantas NZ, and $5000 in relation to holding company Zazu, of which he was a director.

In respect of failing to ensure preparation of the group accounts -- Tasman Pacific and Zazu together -- he was convicted and discharged, junior counsel Mark Woolford said.

He was also ordered to pay court costs totalling $390.

Doddrell, who faced a maximum fine of $100,000 for each of three charges under the Financial Reporting Act, appeared in the Auckland District Court.

Three other Tasman Pacific and Zazu directors -- Fred Watson, David Belcher and Ken Cowley -- pleaded not guilty on Friday and had the same charges against them dismissed.

All seven directors, including an alternate director, were initially charged but the charges against three -- Rob Campbell, Trevor Farmer, and David Skeggs -- were dropped in May.

Qantas NZ, previously Ansett New Zealand, finally collapsed after Qantas Airways' decision last April not to buy the business from Tasman Pacific.

The charges related to the period between late February 2000, when a New Zealand syndicate purchased all the shares in Ansett NZ through investment company Zazu Ltd, and June 30 2000, the end of the airline's financial year.

- NZPA

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