Guns kickbacks & the best investigations $ can buy.

The daily spin blog report on the unhappiness in
NZ First and with the Ministry of Primary Industry who seem to be protecting the fisheries and have relationship somewhat to cozy. Likewise the Green apparatchiks like Nador Tancos have also commented on the affair in disgust.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-02-2019/russel-norman-nash-and-jones-are-leading-nz-fishing-into-rotten-waters/?fbclid=IwAR3ianyOtYwPCOgdGzd0rGL5TnjLv7zlYvgIKM0LASEWtUGrg6m9x2ClgEE

Yes well we all seem to have forgotten the NZ First joke that was past of as investigation into alleged corruption in the fishing industry conducted by Winston Peters & Ross Meurant the former cop turned first police officer, then MP, then arms dealer/mercenary recruiter, then parliamentary researcher/entrepreneur. which cleared the fisheries and said no no nothing smelly here at all – yeah right as the Tui ad goes.

THE FREE LUNCH

Meurant, former spokesman for Fishing and Forestry when National was in opposition in mid 1990’s, was engaged by parliamentary services as a part-time adviser on agriculture, forestry, fishing and racing taxation policy to Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First between 1999 and 2004 Meurant

During this period Meurant was a shareholding director of Digital Global Maps Limited, in which the principal shareholder was Vela Fishing. Meurants business relationship with Philip Vela (Vela Fishing) as a director of Digital Global Maps Ltd and as a consultant to Peter Simunovich (Simunovich Fishing) placed him in the headlines during the “Scampi scandal” (2003–2009), which included allegations ranging from misreporting of fish catch totals by fishing companies as a mechanism to qualify for bigger allocations of privatised fish assets to allegations of large sums of money being directed from fishing magnates to Winston Peters by Meurant.

In 2003 the Primary Industries Ministry select committee conducted an inquiry into allegations of impropriety involving the principals of Simunovich Fisheries Ltd, Winston Peters and Meurant.

Primary Industry Ministry after an “investigation” found the allegations unfounded and untrue.

Though in light NZ First was receiving donations from Vela and Simovich, collected by Meurant, who was in business with Vela its hard to establish how that conclusion was reached. But then again those details were never released to the public and the law is the law even if things do seem fishy to us peasant regardless of whether the the T’s were crossed and the I’s dotted.

Contemporaneously, defamation proceedings against TVNZ and The New Zealand Herald were commenced by Simunovich Fisheries.In December 2009 the defendants capitulated and apologised, and reportedly settled for $15 million damages payment.

Again its hard to establish, eight years later, what the precise defamation issue are other (the Herald’s not exactly keen to say what happened) than the published material, deemed defamatory, was sourced originally from the NBR and activist Vince Siemer after a two hour interview with Meurant a man. Probably a mistake in hindsight considering Meurants history of being pathological liar. Numerous stories remain on Herald pages about Meutant and donations to NZ First.

So what can also be established is Vela family fishing and thoroughbred companies made several donations to NZ First from around the year 1999 to 2003.The Vela donations were made in accordance with electoral laws which allow sums of less than $10,000 to be donated anonymously.

Cheques were collected by Ross Meurant when he worked for NZ First as an adviser to Peters. Meurant, a former National MP, was at that time also a fellow director and shareholder of a business, Digital Global Maps Ltd, with Philip Vela, a senior family figure. During which Meurant worked out of Vela’s Te Rapa offices while working for Peters. During the 2008 general election Meurant was also reported as intermediate for large donations, transferred from Vela Fishing and other fishing magnates to New Zealand First.

Not that this is the first Peters investigation and Primary Industry Ministry review which turn out to not be an investigation at all.

For example you have Peters 2006 mishandling of the UN Food For Oil scandal were he claimed firstly they had investigated the firms and found no wrong doing. When that claim was shown not to be true by Transparency International Peters then claimed that a probe was being conducted by SFO & Police. This also is not true.

Food For Oil

One problem: when I spoke to the companies in question in 2007 they all responded no one had approached them from either agency. When I contacted the Police their media-spokesman (church if i recall correctly) acknowledged that no the police had not spoke to any one. The Serious Fraud Office simply never returned any of my calls.

Yet as the SFO original boss to be Warick Reid ended up in handcuff when it turned out he was Triad informers were not really surprised.

The SFO single handily having showed its inability to investigate corruption during the Wine Box inquiry their determination not to lift up rocks becoming the stuff of legends in the mid 1990’s. This was followed by Reid’s follow Hong Kong associates, recruited into the SFO at the same time, going on to handle the inept investigation into Fonterra’s fake packaging ‘Powdergate’. A scandal in which Fonterra was found to be repackaging milk powder for export to countries other than designated to MFAT for purpose never actually identified.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1150516/ex-prosecutor-warwick-reid-jailed-taking-bribes-sets-new-legal-firm

Second Problem:

Wikileaks cables from US embassy document Winston Peters claims no wrong doing stating

“A check of files by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) found that Ecroyd and JB Sales sought and received the proper approvals and exemptions required under the UN sanctions regime and New Zealand law to export to Iraq, according to a November 4 statement by Foreign Minister Peters. Caroline Bilkey, deputy director of MFAT’s Legal Division, told post March 15 that the government investigation found no evidence of illegal kickbacks by the two companies”.

“The report also identified Vietnam Dairy Products Company as paying considerable kickbacks to the regime. The company purchased whole milk powder from the New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra, repackaged the product in Vietnam and then sold it to Iraq”.

Transparency International however noted the file checking was pointless especially as MFAT had not spoken to the UN investigating body or examined the primary documents related to kick backs used to buy weapons and fund terrorism from Iraqi regime.

An OIA from DEADLINE to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified “80%” of all dairy good entering Iraq as part of the failed UN humanitarian program came from New Zealand. Later leaks from Wikileaks demonstrated that the Clark Labour government, of which Winston Peters was a part of, decision to send troops to the Iraq was motivated by ambition to secure dairy contracts for New Zealand and Fonterra.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/general/fonterra-contract-behind-nz-involvement-in-iraq-2010122007

More than 23 firms (identified off the Paul Volkner UN investigation documentation) can be identified as having imported dairy products to Iraq were clients of Fonterra and subsidiary HSA Group Yemen whose CEO
Abdul Rahman Hayel Saeed had ties to Al Queda and Muslim Brotherhood and subsequent transactions tied to weapon purchases by Saddam Hussein during the Food For Oil bribery scandal.

https://www.foxnews.com/story/possible-saddam-al-qaeda-link-seen-in-u-n-oil-for-food-program

Between 1996 and 2003, while the United Nations ran its Oil-for-Food relief program in Iraq, the HSA Group — via U.N.-approved Oil-for-Food contracts — sold at least $400 million worth of goods to Saddam.

Oddly the New Zealand companies in question all responded no one had approached them from either agency when I asked them directly. When I contacted the Police their media-spokesman (Church if i recall correctly) acknowledged that no the police had not spoke to any one and had not being asked to.

Peters had when exposed by Transparency International simply lied.

Peter simply made up the existence of a fictional investigation which never took place.

It emerges that the NZ government shipped milk products to Iraq via third parties such as Vina Milk the state owned company known to have made kick backs to Saddam and who carried out dairy deals with the assistance of Vostok Immigration Ltd.

Vostock Immigration and sister firm Vostok Import Exports (whose website details how they deal in NZ dairy good, middle Eastern crude oil and Russian munitions) were headed by director of Prok Bank Ian Robertson the former head of the NZ Dairy Board. Former director in the dubious Russian tax haven bank Prok (who also ran a dubious immigration company) who Ross Meurant also a Prok director, acknowledges he still works for the dodgy Russians currently in Eastern Europe and Yemen.

Specifically he is referring to Victor and Larissa Shumilov former agents for the FSB Russia legendary spying agency.

Interesting Meurant is also an author who wrote the The Syrian Connection – which exposes American interference in transfer of money for non sanctioned exports and how a Kiwi and Russian KGB agent subverted the blockade.

Vostock Immigration Ltd worked out of the NZ embassy on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handling the Food For Oil (known in Australia as ‘Weapons for Wheat’) payments.

Vostock also boast they are the largest Supplier and Manufacturer of Armaments and Ammunition in Canada.In 1995 was invited to consult and accompany the Trade Minister Don McKinnon throughout Europe in conjunction with Trade NZ. Vostok Services also represents General Dynamics Ordnance Systems Tactical Inc. They are the largest Supplier and Manufacturer of Armaments and Ammunition in Canada specifically Depleted Uranium rounds.

Other NZ Food For Oil firms involved Reese Engineering a subsidiary of Kimseed International a firm who acknowledged their equipment was previously used by Saddam for military purposes during the Iraq war.

Kimseed deals in helicopters, spray dispersal equipment, secure safes and agricultural equipment. Their UN contracts, run by a former Iraqi chemical engineer. The firm assisting in UN paid “re-vegetation spraying operations” carried out in Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea in areas populated by indigenous populations known to be persecuted and murdered routinely by their ruling regimes. The equipment purchased under the dubious 1 Trillion loan agricultural organised by Fonterra’s US lobbyist Clayton Yuetter when he was Secretary of Agriculture.

The funds of that scam called Iraq gate were deposited into literally same account used by Saddam to buy weapons (with humanitarian aid) during the Food For Oil kickback scheme with UN tender payment all overseen by kiwi David Mace Ernst & Young Hong Kong *1

1*Their body guard during the subsequent US investigation where they found no wrong doing (surprise surprise) former NZ SAS officers who also worked for Tetra Pak the firm which undertook the repackaging which oddly had anyone being awake should have reminded them of the equally feeble Powder Gate saga a few years earlier where Fonterra got in trouble for fraudulently repackaging milk powder but no one ever asked why they did it to begin with. In contrast the KMPG investigators who were reaching a different conclusion got their investigation closed down after the investigator were killed in a car.

While UN Food For Oil contractor NZ Waste Technology director David Appleby previously handled the accounts for money launder Ron Renwald a firm who according Winston Peter’s himself, during the Maori Loans scandal, was handling black market arms transaction and political bribes at least that what Peters was claiming back in the 1980 when trying to score points against his current coalition partner Labour.

None of this was new or unique in the 1990’s rumors of a gun for butter deal surfaced in the Wine Box Inquiry where Peter seemed to go after tax evaders Fay Richwhite whose was also a subsidiary partner with Prok Bank in Wellnet Holdings a mineral dealer dominated by Bao Tao Steel (whose kiwi directors included David Mace the UN Food For Oil special envoy). Richwhite are now buddy buddy with Rocket Lab the US Navy backed weapons deployment facility masking as a satellite launch site and Peters does not seem to mine or as said anything concerning the reappearance of NZ white collar rascals.*2.

*2{In 2014 Rocket Lab’s sister station on Kodiak island Alaska role in weapon research came to light after the station exploded
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/failed-rocket-launch-in-kodiak-under-investigation/article_b9a53cf0-2d5b-11e4-b24f-001a4bcf6878.html

It surfaced again when I investigated SCF role in arms trading via subsidiary Mr Apples, prosecuted by the Privy council in 1999 for money laundering, and its links to dubious fishing operation including the resale of two Russian Fishing vessels Orlovka Osha back to them selves (so as avoid debt racket up ) via front companies the original owners being Prok Bank the Russian firm I helped investigate back in 1999 while assisting NZ Custom intelligence officer John Anderson and Tony Spillane.

Not that anyone in the Greens ever wanted to know about any of this and now NZ First is your coalition partner.

Don’t say you were not warned long ago that NZ First was Fishy.