No charges for Thompson & Clark after SFO declines to prosecute
There is confusion over a decision to close an investigation into private investigators, Thompson & Clark.
The Serious Fraud Office is not pressing charges, saying the “high evidential standard” for laying charges had not been met.
Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman says Thompson & Clark was spying on activists for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
“It’s very worrying when a firm like Thompson and Clark gets away with it, in this case when they were found to be doing a whole bunch of – in my opinion – unlawful things.”
Surprise, surprise – the SFO clears Thompson & Clark spying
When setting up the inquiry into state services using corporate spies to spy on activists and Kiwis, State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes said it was “never acceptable for an agency to undertake targeted surveillance of a person just because they are lawfully exercising their democratic rights, including their right to freedom of expression, association and right to protest”.
“That is an affront to democracy,” he said.
An. Affront. To. Democracy.
So the police investigated (despite originally ‘forgetting’ to start the investigation) and alongside the SFO decision, surprise, surprise the Police AND the SFO found Thompson & Clark didn’t break the law by secretly recording meetings of claimants.
Isn’t that convenient?
This is a private spying firm staffed by former Police Officers who use moonlighting Police Officers for their work and who beyond Southern Response, have worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law, the Serious Fraud Office, Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ and the Police.
So if the SFO had found a breach of the law, that could trigger a cascade of problems for not only themselves, but the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law, Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ and of course, the Police.
Again, isn’t that fantastically coincidental and serendipitously lucky for the corporate spies and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ, the Police and of course the SFO.
So the Police and SFO clear corporate spies of wrong doing that they themselves have hired Thompson & Clark to do?
How is this hypocrisy and clear vested interest not being highlighted by the media?
Part of the reason why I will invalidate my voting form next election. IMO, there are clear signs of increasing corruption in “god(dess)’s own country”. I am increasingly disabled & can now do little to demonstrate (like in 1981) the degree of my integrity, morality, compassion for others & & &. I long ago ceased to be proud to call myself a New Zealander.
This is probably more dangerous than people realize of police can just take off there uniforms and become immune from prosecution for accessing information they shouldn’t be accessing.
With greater responsibility should come greater consequence. It should be true for everyone, including police and elected officials.
There should be misdemeanour-level infringement fines for failure of duty for public officials, though. Cops, fire fighters, politicians, ect.
That said, I also think Police should be held more accountable on a civil level. Cops should require Malpractice Insurance just like doctors and lawyers. A lot of the current bullshit basically qualifies as extreme malpractice. If you could sue police for malpractice when necessary, they’d be a lot more careful.
What media, most of it now openly posts OZ articles?
Sad that the SFO are now just part of the problem from not bothering to investigate the DHB’s CEO Dave Macpherson helping himself to $200k of public money https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/07/05/dave-macpherson-serious-fraud-office-sends-terrible-message-over-former-waikato-dhb-ceos-200k-ripoff/ or the ANZ CEO’s property deals to his open expense account that he was not criminalised, to turning a blind eye to private firms spying on NZ citizens with dirty politics tactics.
Not just the SFO, the bloated 200 staffed commerce commission fail to notice the banks record profits (they have a lovely cosy relationship whereby the NZ banks ‘self report’ their failures to the commerce commission saving them the trouble of any investigation), so that while documents show the same banks expected $700+ million in fines from OZ for money laundering related offences BNZ rated it as ‘minor’ that the NZ authorities would ever bother to get involved and fine them. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114664719/bnz-struggled-to-abide-by-antimoney-laundering-laws
So what are the commerce commission up to, not the banks profits, nor the unsafe products in NZ, but apparently ability to delete Facebook reviews for start ups, which ‘may be a breach of the free trading act’…
Our agencies are not concerned with money launders, growing poverty in NZ from predatory behaviours from big players onto the public, record NZ multinational profits, DHB frauds, but instead 1st world problems that seem to be more about reducing freedom of speech (aka it is completely normal for blogs, Facebook holders and what have you to delete weirdo people and comments they don’t like, but apparently this ‘may’ be a trading breach) Big Brother combined with Nanny State anyone!
Wow no wonder the rich multinationals are getting richer and the poor locals are getting poorer in NZ and we don’t have any world class businesses starting or operating from NZ anymore, small business is toppled by overzealous and underworked petty officials from government run organisations who sweat the small stuff and turn a blind eye to the big stuff that is contributing to growing inequality and a more corrupt country with officials allowed to help themselves to expense and spy on their enemies without them knowing about it, and that is ok! (while deleting a Facebook post is not ok, apparently).
Beware TDB, you could have the commerce commission on your tail for deleting posts and negative feedback, while also have the harmful communications act or defamation suit if you don’t! Catch 22!
Auckland business accused of deleting negative Facebook comments
This poor lady has invested nearly $300!!
commerce commission, hot on their tails!! Whoop, whoop!
“The delay had frustrated some investors, including Auckland woman Katherine Palin, who said she and her husband contributed nearly $300 when the campaign first launched.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114792003/auckland-business-accused-of-deleting-negative-facebook-comments
Another NZ disaster bought to their knees by our elite crime fighting officials (sarcasm) hard at work (sarcasm) on the trivial sucking the teat of the taxpayers while keeping mum about the bigger frauds going on that might require a little too much effort and competence that they are able!
Hi Save NZ,
I am sure it was NOT Dave Macpherson who ripped off the Waikato DHB, I am sure it was Nigel Murray the previous CEO. The Macpherson’s have had a bad time with the Waikato DHB. But a good response otherwise. Cheers.
So sorry you are completely right, Maama. Thanks for pointing it out.
You ought to get your facts straight. ‘Dave Macpherson’ was never the Waikato DHB CEO – Daily Blog, please remove that inaccuracy – SaveNZ, before you have any other rushes of blood to the head, please check your own assertions! You mean ‘Nigel Murray’ – whom I particularly don’t like being mistaken for!
So, the question I have is; are they still in operation? And are they still in operation?
Yes, and yes. It’s a classic case of ‘nothing to see here, move along’.
And my question is the current government still using their spying services? ( because they shouldn’t its unethical )
Using spooks, both AO/NZ governmental / non governmental, to keep an eye out for, then fixed on, those whom might display the talents necessary to up end an old and well established matrix of crooked deals and grifted fortunes is nothing new. What is new, is your increasing levels of awareness with its consequential ‘Oh Fuck’s !’ shocks and jaw drop moments.
MBIE? MAF? Surprised? Are you really?
[That] realisation of spooks being shifty may never have happened if it were not for the internet. The old school print media, tv and radio were easily monitored, manipulated, sanitised and smacked down in to subservience. A higher level of crafty is required for the Web, however.
One would need to be determinedly naive to think, that, because we AO/NZ’ers are marketed back at us as Clean, green, hearty, hale, brave, sailing, mountaineering, pioneering all-round what-O- types and not spied upon, used, exploited, and, in worst case scenarios, assassinated, then I have a bridge to sell you. Called Auckland Harbour Bridge? I own it. Was bequeathed to me by an Arab investor. You, or you, can have it for $20 million. A bargain. I can get my Nigerian lawyer to run up the paperwork. Email it to you.
The SFO is an organisation constructed to be a mechanism to make [it] look like an/any investigation was/is taking place but isn’t/wasn’t/didn’t/will never/ move along/nothing to see here.
Aye winnie? Ask winnie? He can tell you allllll about it.
Thompson ( You might be a relative?) and Clark? You’ll be all over writers and their associates here like the lice you dust daily that you caught after you picked up that gorgeous person one night in Bangkok. The one who said they loved you. Ba hahaha a a ! The woman who was the great kisser with the big adams apple!? Ba ahahha aa aa ahahaha a! ( Thanks Joey on ‘Friends’. )
Suckers.
2 informal a gullible or easily deceived person. if suckers will actually pay to do the work, more fool them. what’s needed is a sucker—sorry, brave volunteer—to test it out.
• (a sucker for) a person especially susceptible to or fond of (a specified thing): I always was a sucker for a good fairy tale.
P.S.
‘Democracy’? We don’t have a democracy. We have polite fascism at best. If we’re not legally required to vote therefore no one will vote? Will that then still be a ‘democracy’?
Is it, therefore, my democratic right to not be involved in my democracy? If you choose not to be ‘involved’ then how can you chose to be referred to as being democratic? If no one votes to maintain the democracy and yet things happen from within that (albeit mythical) democracy? Are those things going to be aligned to being democratic? And is so, then how?
The term ‘democracy’ will never be eliminated because those fascists who parasitise our ‘democracy’ to suck on our economy have a perfect place to hide within our democracy to do that, which they obviously do. Why would they blow their cover? They’re hiding in plain sight. So long as we’re not required by a law, which would be drawn up by the collective ‘us’, to vote? Then, the fascists and their minions will continue to plague us like knob herpies.
TDB is touching on a bigger thing than one might imagine here. No pun intended.
Yep all is ‘in order’ in the state of Niu Zilliland.
I never expected any different outcome.
I also do not expect much from our Parliamentary Commissioners, and the Ombudsmen, they mostly seek and find every loophole in the law to avoid calling out those that commit wrongdoings, and they rather let them off the hook, except in a very few cases where it would look to abysmally embarrassing to do that.
NZ Inc continues to be a ‘joke’, a sick joke for a country and system it has.
Further good reasons to continue drugging and drinking, as one cannot have faith in this screwed up and much over rated country.
No charges for Thompson & Clark after SFO declines to prosecute
Yeah somehow i knew they wouldn’t give this the seriousness it deserves.
Too many ex coppers involved here and then there is the wider complications had this been pursued in a court of law dragging many who will stay anonymous and hidden.
If Andre Little and Winston had any guts and truly cared about the corruption here they would act but they like the previous government of criminals they are totally inept and tared with the same brush.
Kiwis love their myths like the ” 100% pure and green ” and ” one of the least corrupt countries on earth ”
The reality is very different.
Up next the National party donation breach and Bridges involvement.
This will be another pile of dirt that the SFO will sweep under the rug with no consequences at all.
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