Civil case against Alex Swney begins

Former Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney before his sentencing last month. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The civil case against disgraced Auckland businessman Alex Swney was called for the first time at the High Court this morning.

The case management conference between the former mayoral candidate and Heart of the City - the company he set up - took place in chambers.

A Heart of the City spokeswoman told NZME. News Service it was committed to recovering "as much of the stolen money as is possible".

"Currently all detail surrounding the civil action is subject to court ordered confidentiality so we're unable to discuss further."

Swney, 57, was due to be sentenced on fraud charges totalling more than $4 million in the Auckland District Court last month but the judge was sick and the hearing had to be postponed until next month.

The civil proceedings launched by Heart of the City were announced shortly after its former boss lost name suppression on the criminal charges.

The board employed forensic accountants to painstakingly review years of financial activity and papers were filed with the High Court soon after its completion.

However, the details of their claim will not be released by the court.

The former mayoral candidate has been on bail since last year but his lawyer Murray Gibson said his client accepted he would eventually have to swap his swanky Ponsonby property for a jail cell.

The most recent offences, which stemmed from a Serious Fraud Office investigation, involved dishonestly using false invoices to obtain $2,527,005 from the organisation between February 2004 and October 2014.

In January, he pleaded guilty to four representative charges covering 12 years of offending and $1,757,147 of unpaid taxes.

Heart of the City - a city-centre business association registered by Swney in 1994 - has income-tax exemption on the basis that it was created to develop or increase amenities for the Auckland public.

Swney did not respond to requests for comment.