Watchdog probes Glenn charity
SIR OWEN Glenn’s charitable trust will be investigated by Internal Affairs after revelations irregular payments were made from the charity to Glenn.
The department’s Charities Services general manager, Brendon Ward, confirmed the investigation in a statement: ‘‘The department has decided to commence an investigation into the Glenn Family Foundation Charitable Trust. It is too early in the process to anticipate a timeframe for completion.’’
Internal Affairs has told the charity of its decision to investigate.
The Sunday Star-Times last week revealed concerns about payments from the charity to a bloodstock company and Glenn’s personal bank account.
The trust’s then general manager, Peter McGlashan, flagged the irregular payments in an email to the multimillionaire businessman, who part-owns the Warriors rugby league team with Eric Watson.
The June 11 email tells Glenn that the ‘‘large international transfer payments you requested be made to Bloodstocks Ltd and to your account in Sydney’’ had been done, and asks for confirmation they were received.
The email goes on to say that the payments ‘‘are not typical’’ of a charitable trust and will ‘‘no doubt need explaining’’ when the charity’s accounts are being prepared.
‘‘I’d imagine there will have to be a conversation at some stage at board level, about how these types of transactions are classified from an accounting point of view, as they, and the boats expenses, are not typical of a charitable trust and will no doubt need explaining when the accountants are compiling the foundation’s financials, which, as I understand because of GFF’s charitable status, may be available publicly,’’ the email says.
It is not known what the payments were for, or whether the bloodstock payment referred to Go Bloodstock NZ Ltd, a company 100 per cent owned by Glenn.
Charities law specialist Jarrod True last week said such payments should ‘‘sound alarm bells’’.
It is the latest controversy to dog Glenn’s proposed $ 80 million spend to fight child abuse in New Zealand. The various projects, including the troubled $2m inquiry into domestic violence and child abuse, are being run out of the charitable trust, of which Glenn is a trustee.
Key staff have left the inquiry, and more walked after Star-Times revelations Glenn was charged with physically abusing his personal assistant, Marja Shaw, in Hawaii in 2002.
Court documents show Glenn offered a plea of no contest to a lesser charge of assault when the case came before the courts in Hawaii in 2003. He was put on probation, and the charge was dismissed in 2004 when the probationary period ended. He denies the allegation and says he has no history of violence against women.
Glenn is said to be considering his position with the inquiry as a result.
The Charities Act allows investigation of a charity and individuals. It can request information and documents, and failure to comply can result in fines of up to $10,000.