Rich-lister willing to bleed cash, pair joked

A rich-lister’s manager said his boss was happy to bleed cash if it resulted in an indecent assault allegation disappearing, a court has heard.

And a secret recording at an Auckland bar has also revealed the pair seemingly joked about sending the alleged victim to Turkey to be killed.

The wealthy Kiwi, who has interim name suppression, is on trial accused of indecently assaulting three men in the early 2000s, 2008 and 2016.

He is also charged with twice trying to pervert the course of justice by offering a bribe for the 2016 complainant — the first of the three to go to police — to drop his claim.

The businessman denies the charges and has claimed he is the victim of blackmailing efforts.

One of the alleged persuasion attempts was on the Gold Coast and involved two PR workers hired by the businessman through his manager, who is also on trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

However, the complainant told police about the approach.

The two PR workers, who have temporary name suppression and immunity from prosecution, later met the businessman’s manager at a Karangahape Rd bar and one recorded their discussion, which was played to the jury this week. One consultant, who has political connections, can be heard on the recording raising the possibility of intimidating the complainant. The manager agreed: “Yeah, because it sounds to me . . . you could make an offer that’s reasonable and they would accept.”

He also mentions, seemingly jokingly, a discussion with the businessman about sending the complainant to Turkey to have him killed in a “traffic accident”. They also discuss spending more money on alleged attempts to dissuade the complainant.

“So because he got burned by [a well-known entertainer] and because this first mission didn’t succeed, [the businessman] is . . . going to say ‘and here we go again, first we lost that much dosh and now we’ve lost this much dosh’.

“He’s happy to bleed if it gets resolved.” The PR consultant also suggested leaving the entertainer out of future plans, while the manager called him a “snake” with dollar signs in his eyes.

The entertainer has pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice for trying to have the 2016 complainant drop allegations. He has name suppression and will be sentenced next month.

The High Court trial in Auckland continues on Monday.