$4m fraudster Swney teaching fellow prisoners
Jailed former Heart of the City boss Alex Swney is teaching fellow inmates how to read and write.
Swney, 59, was jailed for five years and seven months in June 2015, after being found guilty of tax evasion and “sophisticated” offending spanning more than a decade.
The crimes involved more than $4 million.
It is understood he will be eligible for parole in May.
New Zealand Howard League for Penal Reform chief executive Mike Williams, a former Labour Party president, yesterday told the Herald of Swney’s work with fellow inmates via one of the organisation’s peer-to-peer literacy programmes.
“We get prisoners who can read and write to teach the prisoners who can’t read and write how to. And Alex is involved in that,” Williams said.
Before sentencing Swney said he knew he’d have to serve some time, and asked “what use could he make of his sentence”.
The league was then in the early stages of developing the peer-to-peer literacy programme, which is common overseas.
Swney had told the league that a “flood” of prisoners wanted help with their parole forms. A recent graduation for the literacy programme featured prisoners taught by Swney.
Williams said such learning would make a huge difference to the lives of those men.
“Of course, there is an element of self interest in [Swney’s involvement]. That goes down well with the parole board.”
Swney pleaded guilty to charges laid by the Inland Revenue and Serious Fraud Office for offending that Judge Grant Fraser said involved a “gross breach of trust”.
They included 229 false invoices used to obtain $2,527,005 from the Heart of the City between February 2004 and October 2014 and not paying taxes of $1,757,147.