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Government ministers say they did not know about former state services commissioner Michael Wintringham's involvement in questions relating to the qualifications of former immigration service boss Mary Anne Thompson.
Police have been asked to look into allegations Ms Thompson, who resigned on Monday, did not have qualifications she claimed to have.
It was previously reported she had a doctorate from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) but the school has no record of that.
Mr Wintringham is not revealing what he knew about Ms Thompson's qualifications.
But Ms Thompson's lawyer, Helen Aikman QC, has revealed that the State Services Commission (SSC), when Mr Wintringham was at its helm, knew of allegations regarding her qualifications.
Ms Aikman said in a letter that the commission appeared to have been aware of these allegations about Ms Thompson's qualifications for the past four years or so, "but they were not raised with Ms Thompson while she was a public servant".
Ms Aikman declined to comment to NZPA yesterday other than to repeat the letter was sent in error.
A spokesman for the SSC confirmed to NZPA that Mr Wintringham knew of allegations regarding Ms Thompson's qualifications.
The spokesman said the information was not passed on to the new leadership and as soon as State Services Commissioner Mark Prebble and his deputy Iain Rennie got the information last week they sought Crown Law advice, which directed them to pass it on to police.
Mr Wintringham would not yesterday say what he knew.
"There appears to be a discussion taking place now between Mary Anne Thompson's lawyer and the State Services Commission and it would be (inappropriate) and I am not going to make any comment or insert myself into that discussion," he told NZPA.
Cabinet Minister Trevor Mallard said he was not briefed about the allegations when he was State Services Minister.
Acting Prime Minister Michael Cullen yesterday said ministers had been unaware of the questions surrounding Ms Thompson's qualifications until last week.
Ministers had not known of Mr Wintringham's involvement in 2004 over questions about Ms Thompson's qualifications, he said.
He had been told on Wednesday about Mr Wintringham's involvement. Dr Cullen said he had contacted the prime minister "who confirmed for me that she also had no knowledge of the former commissioner's involvement".
Prime Minister Helen Clark told NZPA while in Korea yesterday that the SSC needed to take a hard look at its systems to make sure relevant information was properly passed on.
She said it was not at all clear what exactly Ms Thompson had told Mr Wintringham.
The full facts would not be known until the various inquiries were completed.
The Labour Department has said Ms Thompson did not claim she had a doctorate when she was appointed to the position of deputy secretary - the title she held as head of the Immigration Service.
The SSC is looking into how three members of Ms Thompson's extended family got residency in New Zealand, while the Labour Department has launched an inquiry into allegations of bribery and corruption within the Immigration Service's Pacific Division.
A timeline contained in the terms of reference for the Pacific division inquiry stated a scoping report would not be completed until mid-June with the formal review starting in late July and expected to be signed by mid-September.
From 2004 to 2007 there were 19 cases of serious offences proven including theft, bribery and fraud; nine people resigned or were fired and three referred to police.
The SSC is investigating how applications for Ms Thompson's family members were approved and how the case was handled.
An internal inquiry found officials were instructed to override policy when they handled the applications.
A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said he had requested a report into the residencies.
- NZPA
