A Maori leader charged with accepting bribes can be named for the first time today after a three-year name suppression order was lifted.
Sir Ralph Heberley Ngatata Love, 78, his partner Lorraine Skiffington, 58, and Love's son Matene Love, 54, were investigated by the Serious Fraud Office in 2012 for taking bribes to favour a developer for the land and assets owned by the Wellington Tenths Trust.
Love is accused of taking two payments equalling $1.5 million in 2006 and 2007 in exchange for favouring Auckland property developer, Redwood Group, which wanted to develop Tenths Trust land near Parliament, reports Fairfax.
The payments were made through a company owned by Skiffington.
The Wellington Tenths Trust was established to administer 81ha of Maori Reserve lands, mostly in urban Wellington.Love, who was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Maori in 2008, was the chairman and a trustee of the Tenths Trust.