Loan-deal claims see Labour man out

Steven Ching (right) campaigning yesterday with John Tamihere (centre) and Dover Samuels (in light hat at rear). Picture / Paul Estcourt

The man on track to become Labour's first Chinese MP was yesterday forced to stand down while police investigate serious allegations he misused Government connections.

In the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Labour Party, list candidate Steven Ching was asked to stand down over claims that he offered to get a man appointed as a justice of the peace in exchange for a $50,000 loan.

The Herald on Sunday yesterday claimed that Mr Ching told Auckland broadcaster Paul Liu he would get two senior Labour MPs to sign his application form to become a JP.

In exchange, Mr Liu was asked to give a $50,000 loan to Mr Ching.

Mr Ching denied the claims.

Yesterday morning Mr Ching - number 42 on the Labour list - was out on the campaign trail with MPs Dover Samuels and John Tamihere, but by mid-morning he had been asked to stand down as the Labour Party handed the matter over to the police to investigate.

Party president Mike Williams has written to the Herald on Sunday asking that all its affidavits be sent to the police and the Labour Party.

Mr Ching, 63, denied the allegations and said he was confident police would clear his name in time for him to stand in the election.

"I intend to sue the Sunday Herald [sic] because they are reporting rubbish things."

He issued a written statement, signed by Mr Liu, which said the allegations were not true.

"Mr Ching did ask to borrow money from me for a revolving fund," the statement said, "but his request was absolutely no connection with the JP's application he proposed to me.

"There were totally two different issues, and obviously, the writer had put them together."

It is not Mr Ching's first brush with controversy. In the past month he was forced to resign as a justice of the peace after Herald on Sunday investigations found he had two undisclosed convictions under the Fisheries Act.

Mr Ching had also pleaded guilty to obstructing a fisheries officer in 2001 and was discharged without conviction.

Despite the revelations, Labour initially stood by Mr Ching, who is highly regarded for his ability to draw donations from Auckland's Asian community and attract their votes.

Mr Williams said the convictions were minor and the party had accepted that Mr Ching did not know about them because they were handled by his lawyer.

But Mr Williams said the latest allegations were serious and Mr Ching needed to stand down while they were investigated.

If Mr Ching is not cleared before the election he will not be replaced on the list. The candidates ranked below him will move up one position.

The Herald on Sunday has an affidavit sworn by Mr Ching's former employee, Lau Siew Fei, who says she was present at the meeting between Mr Ching and Mr Liu when the offer was made.

The paper reported that Mr Liu confirmed Mr Ching had asked him for money.

"I thought JP would be good, but I didn't want to do it that way," Mr Liu is reported to have said.

Mr Liu did not agree to the loan or proceed with the application to become a JP.

Yesterday, Mr Ching said he had never heard of Lau Siew Fei and said she would "be put in jail" for making false declarations.

Herald on Sunday editor Shayne Currie said the paper stood by its report and would forward the affidavits and information it had to the police.

He would take advice from the people who wrote the affidavits and the paper's lawyers before giving the information to the Labour Party.

The Herald on Sunday has sent an affidavit to the Immigration Service concerning allegations relating to Mr Ching's work as an immigration consultant.

When told that the paper had further allegations, Mr Ching said: "I will prove they are making defamation against me. They are not human."

Who is Steven Ching?

Auckland businessman.

Age 63.

Full Chinese name Ching Tay Hang.

No 42 on the Labour list.

Ranked 56 before the last election, but has been rewarded for building up a Chinese branch of the party.