Board sacks Maori TV chief executive

5.00pm

The board of New Zealand's Maori Television Service has sacked beleaguered chief executive John Davy for "serious misconduct", less than seven weeks after announcing his appointment.

The chairman of the Maori Television Service board, Derek Fox, said this afternoon that John Davy had provided the board with false information about his background.

Mr Davy was suspended immediately on Saturday pending further board investigations, Mr Fox said in a statement.

Mr Davy was given until 5.00pm today to respond to questions put to him by the board, but a satisfactory response was not received and his contract was formally terminated.

National Radio quotes Mr Fox as saying the board is carrying out an audit of business conducted by Mr Davy to ensure its affairs are in order.

A Herald inquiry into Mr Davy's background has in the past few days raised questions about his role as a member and adviser to the BC Securities Commission in Canada, his Master of Business Administration degree, and two books he is said to have written.

In a biographical sheet provided to the media, Mr Davy's "non-conflict directorships" - a term which implied they were not only real but current - included his being a "member and adviser to the BC Securities Commission".

A statement from the board, issued last Friday, said Mr Davy had provided details of "some highly confidential work he carried out for the British Columbia Securities Commission in 1986".

But a BC Securities Commission spokesman said he could not find a reference to a John Davy in the past 15 years, or in records back to the late 70s.

Another of Mr Davy's non-conflict directorships is said to be as a member and adviser of the Middle East Round Table for International Relations.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff familiar with the Middle East say they have not heard of the organisation.

Mr Davy last week gave the board a copy of his MBA "from the Ashland School of Business at Denver State University".

Herald inquiries found Denver State University does not exist. The university name and the school on Mr Davy's degree certificate were, however, used on counterfeit credentials sold over the internet.

Mr Davy was appointed by the board on March 14, chosen from a shortlist of six, including three Maori applicants.

At the time of Davy's appointment, Derek Fox said the Canadian was by far the best applicant.

He said the chief executive was selected for his strong financial and management skills.

"I can understand that people will be apprehensive but I am confident the guy will deliver."

The decision did, however, raise some eyebrows in Maoridom. Mr Davy does not speak Maori and had no experience running a television station.

Mr Davy had been living in Auckland since last June, according to a curriculum vitae issued by the Maori Television Service.

He was chief executive and chief financial officer of Intercom 3000, a company which was placed in liquidation earlier this month owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Maori Television Service board hired Wellington recruitment agency Millennium People to find its chief executive.

The television service is accountable to the Government and the Maori Electoral College.

Its seven-member board is a mixture of private and public interests. Three are appointed by the Crown and four by the electoral college of Maori organisations and language groups.

Full coverage: Maori TV