Cactus Kate on Hotchin case
Cactus Kate must have plenty of time on her hands while she is sunning herself in Bangkok. I say this because she has put out two posts showing that she is continuing her crusade to hold the statutory authorities and the media accountable for their apparent sloppiness in their investigations and repeat-age surrounding Mark Hotchin.
It also shows her impartiality that she is looking with increasing incredulity at the actions of the authorities toward New Zealand’s second most hated man after Clayton Weatherston.
Freezing orders in law are meant to not be granted lightly and be temporary in nature while investigations are completed and with some certainty that charges will be anticipated. Hotchin’s very blanket freeze order was the first under the relevant sections of the Securities Act, however there is reasonable precedent prior for fraud allegations and other New Zealand legislation allows freezing of assets.
The SFO investigation into Hanover was meant to be well completed at Christmas. As was the Securities Commission’s as to whether to lay criminal charges. It has dragged on and on. Regardless of the reasons it is now becoming ridiculous.
Hotchin has even claimed that he hasn’t been told what is being investigated. That is there is no specific reference to what he is being investigated for other than a general poke and feel around based on HUtu (Hanover Utu) and sensationalism running rampant in the media and in the public along with all other finance companies. A “fishing expedition” as we call it.
S60G of the Act broadly allows freezing in three situations:
- criminal prosecution have begun
- civil proceedings have begun
- where securities commission are carrying out an investigation into acts or omissions by the defendant.
I like her new name – HUtu. However on the face of it this really does seem to be a trawling exercise to try to find something, anything, just something in order to save face. Now correct me if I am wrong here, but i thought fishing expeditions were illegal. Perhaps under the auspices of the SFO they can be as broad as they like but I’m pretty sure that normally authorities need to be pretty specific about what they are after before they go after it.
While Hotchin isn’t the favourite public figure in New Zealand, this case is making for ridiculous precedent. In the meantime Hotchin has had to pay bills, sort creditors and keep businesses moving and progressing. He also owes money to the IRD. I wonder what the IRD feels about the freeze order and whether they will apply to have it lifted themselves to be paid? The taxman waiteth for no one.
No other decision-making director of Hanover has been subject to such an order, no attempt either has been made to freeze Eric Watson’s New Zealand based assets let alone his foreign ones. Hotchin has wore the entire Hanover matter on his own despite in each instance being just one of several directors.
While the general public seems to care none about any swanky car driving, long lunching businessman having anything frozen, which is fine, but everyone should care about antiquated orders such as this seeking to deny an accused (if he’s even that as again there’s been no charges) even the right to the basic presumption of innocence let alone speed in the investigation.
Cactus makes a good point. The lefty blogs are wanking on endlessly about the Urewera 17 being denied open justice and yet remain strangely silent on apparent singling out of a single director who has yet to be charged. Those same liberal panty-waists are the same one who cry a river of tears about the presumption of innocence regarding pedos and rapists and that is the reason why name suppression should be retained, yet remain silent on the public vilification in the media of an uncharged man and the use of the judiciary to cosh the same man under the authoritative thumbs of incompetent investigators who haven’t found a thing in 5 months.
The inconsistency is obvious:
I will give an example of what has happened to Hotchin using a street level scenario. Right now Headhunters, Black Power, Highway 61 and Mongrel Mob gangs happily launder money through bank accounts in New Zealand under guises of associates and members. Most known to Police and the Organised Crime Unit they stick their all ill-gotten gains into banks, property and other investments or assets. I’ve even heard of a charitable trust structures being used by gangs to have “donations” paid into.
Do the authorities freeze their assets on suspicion of fraud or while being investigated? Of course not because gangs are constantly under investigation. They let gangs hold assets because they haven’t got enough evidence to bust them. They are continually investigating them yet their assets stay in tact while this happens and they watch the accounts. The Organised Crime Unit doesn’t just slap a freeze order on the account suspecting they’ve got the money from drugs, guns or crime. All money from gangs comes from some sort of crime, by definition. They aren’t making anything through legitimate 9 to 5 jobs. Its all from drugs, guns, security, extortion, blackmail and protection.
Imagine the outcry from civil libertarians and Hone Harawira if government agencies went around and froze every bank account of a suspected underclass dirty tattooed mainly Maori gang member? Well there’s no outcry when same happened to the nicely dressed middle-class white male.
Cactus also give Fran(k) a serve for her inconsistency.
Oh it is unfair that the totally peer-less Urewera 18 cannot have a jury trial by their peers or delay justice anymore for the terrorist group. Fran O’Sullivan drafted this rather compelling argument that China’s human rights record may be close to New Zealand’s using the Urewera model.
But we can freeze Mark Hotchin’s assets for four months without charge, without specific details given to him as to what he’s been investigated for and with no signs of any progress in an elongated investigation spanning some months and prior investigations to this.
I bring the Urewera 18 up as Justice Helen Winkelmann is it is pertinent as she is the Judge both denying Urewera 18 a jury trial and Hotchin, any sense of fair play when it comes to the freeze order. The media and public say one is a travesty, yet the other is not.
Oh now that is very interesting. The same judge, the same treatment against accused, or in the case of Mark Hotchin, still not accused. The media and the pinko luvvies are metaphorical marching int eh streets for alleged terrorists but not for a white guy who talks funny and wears a suit. There is a word for that, and since I am not in parliament i can use it,…hypocrisy.
As usual Cactus gets down to tin tacks in the most intimidating yet honest way.
All leads to the conclusion that while John Key Prime Minister can stand up at a meeting and say about the man who cost hundreds of millions in bailout money – “I like Allan Hubbard”, left as the most vilified man in New Zealand is a bloke who hasn’t cost the New Zealand taxpayer a cent in a corporate bailout welfare such as SCF, hasn’t plotted terrorist activity like card-carrying vigilante racist Tame Iti or like the gangs sold “P” to your kiddies or gang raped your daughters.
Ain’t that the truth. I am fast coming to the conclusion that something very rotten is happening. Ultimately with Hanover the investors gamblers all voted to toss their lot in with Allied and when they lost their chump change they all of a sudden have buyers remorse. That is not a crime, especially not when they all voted for it. Nice but dim Allan Hubbard meanwhile was running a nice Ponzi scheme, the New Zealand equivalent of Bernie Madoff and he got bailed out. Each taxpayer in New Zealand has lost far more in SCF involuntarily and compulsorily than the individual gamblers lost in Hanover through their own voluntary actions.
