Friday, May 23, 2014



A serial offender

It looks like former Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson is a serial offender at interfering with police cases:

Maurice Williamson called a senior police officer in Counties Manukau on a separate criminal case in which he "merely wished to pass on" that a complainant in a fraud case was "unhappy" that police were not going to lay charges.

[...]

The phone call from Mr Williamson in October or November 2013 was about a complex financial case where the complainant was advised that it was unlikely the police would lay criminal charges, said Mr Lynch, according to the memo released today under the Official Information Act.

"When Mr Williamson phoned me he reiterated at the start of the conversation that he was not seeking to interfere in any police investigation but merely wished to pass on what [redacted] had advised him that he was unhappy that [redacted] would probably not face charges."

Mr Lynch was unaware of the details of the case and spoke with a colleague who said "the matter was quite complex but his current view was that police would be unable to reach the required level of evidential sufficiency to bring charges."

There was no further contact from Mr Williamson, said Mr Lynch.


So much for an isolated incident. Instead, it looks like a habit. We're well rid of him.

Meanwhile, there's the obvious question: was the complainant Williamson was speaking on behalf of a National Party donor?