KEY POINTS:
An Auckland man has been accused of blackmailing his lawyer by demanding $350,000 to keep quiet about allegations he was in a relationship with a massage parlour worker and smoked drugs.
The unusual blackmail charge was laid against an unemployed man, Paul Desmond Currie, in the Auckland District Court last week, after Currie allegedly threatened to expose his lawyer when he lost $200,000 in a divorce settlement.
Court documents show that on November 21, 2006, police allege that Currie threatened to disclose that his lawyer was in a relationship with a prostitute, took the class A drug methamphetamine, and conspired with others to supply P.
Police say 45-year-old Currie asked for $351,886.16.
The high-profile Auckland lawyer's identity is suppressed.
The Herald on Sunday understands the lawyer formed a relationship in the 1990s with a woman who worked at an Auckland massage parlour.
Although the on-again, off-again relationship ended, the pair remained friends, and the lawyer later represented her new partner, Paul Currie, in a divorce settlement from his wife.
However, the court ruled against Currie and ordered him to pay $200,000 to his ex-wife.
In 2006, after a disagreement with Currie about how he handled the case, the lawyer ceased to represent him and claimed Currie owed him $11,000 in legal fees.
Between October and December 2006, the lawyer received a number of letters from a company claiming to represent Currie, seeking more than $350,000 in compensation.
Police sources say one letter contained allegations of serious criminal and professional misconduct by the barrister.
Police say the letter finished by saying the allegations could be kept quiet if Currie was paid $350,000. Otherwise, the Auckland District Law Society was mentioned as a body to which the allegations could be made.
Currie is to reappear in the Auckland District Court on October 23 for a pre-depositions hearing. The Pukekohe man was unable to be reached.
