Ministry wants at least $55,000 from Davy

By LOUISA CLEAVE

A judge will be asked to order John Davy to pay back more than $55,000 he was given by the Maori Television Service, plus the cost of hiring him, when he is sentenced next week.

Police have been told by Te Puni Kokiri, the Ministry of Maori Development, to demand all money be returned when Davy returns to court on Wednesday.

Te Puni Kokiri is responsible for signing off payments by MTS.

The ministry wants Davy to pay back a gross salary advance of $35,328, gross salary of $20,252 and the costs of employing him.

The service paid for Davy to fly from the Philippines to Auckland in February to interview him for the job. It again paid for him to fly with his partner in March to take the job.

Davy was convicted of fraud after admitting to police that his CV contained "a large number of fabrications".

He will appear in court on Wednesday, when police will assess which of the ministry's payments qualify for reparation.

It will be up to the judge to decide whether Davy should repay the money.

Davy's lawyer, Kahu Barron-Afeaki, has said his client is broke and wants to leave New Zealand. He said Davy would make a statement about his future after sentencing. His visa expires on Thursday.

Meanwhile, MTS lawyers Hugh Rennie, QC, and Gina Rutland met representatives of Wellington recruitment agency Millennium People yesterday.

The agency has been paid $11,000 by Maori Television and is understood to be owed another $5000 for the recruitment of Davy. The agency was paid around $70,000 for hiring four MTS executives.

Neither party would comment on the meeting.

Electoral College chairman Hone Harawira said he would use Millennium People in the future. The college hired the agency to help select its four representatives to the MTS board.

Mr Harawira said people were pointing the finger at everybody else in the debacle and common sense was needed.

"The State Services Commission had a hand in Mr Davy's appointment. It couldn't be approved until after it had been approved by the SSC," said Mr Harawira.

"The board was very pissed off that the SSC refused to validate the appointment until they had done their own checks."

The MTS is now expected to move forward with Davy due for sentencing and the appointment of millionaire businessman Wayne Walden as interim chief executive on a three-month contract.

In a statement issued through MTS, Mr Walden said he was not interested in the politics or media coverage of recent events and would make no further comment, except to say: "I believe a Maori television service is essential and want to see it up and running."

Full coverage: Maori TV