Interesting information.

[mean]

I just had to post this information that I retrieved from another forum.

NZRL’s audited accounts to 31 December 1998 and 31 December 1999 show that it had cash reserves of at least $3.1 million.
(Gosh I wonder where it all is now mmm?)

On 29 April 1999 the All Golds Gaming Foundation Limited was registered as a separate company by NZRL Inc. NZRL financial records record that at least $971,000 was invested in the All Golds Foundation over the next 2/3 years. The NZRL Audited accounts to 31 December 2001 record Shareholders equity of ($31,739) and Liabilities of $924,443 including NZRL loan $558,344 and National Bank loan $289,949. The All Golds was finally disestablished as an entity in December 2003. It is believed that the assets of the company were sold at some point in 2002, at what cost we do not know, to a former (no not a present)NZRL Board member who set up his own gaming trust that still operates successfully.

On 26 May 2000 the NZRL Board approved the purchase of the premises at 13 Queen Drive, Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, known as Eddy’s Bar, from Power Jaber Investments Ltd for $1,020,000. The breakdown of the value as recorded in NZRL’s audited accounts to 31 December 2000 is land and buildings $400,000 and goodwill $620,000. Power Jaber Investments Ltd had been formed as a Company on 22 July 1999 and had earlier purchased the premises at 13 Queen Drive Wainuiomata, previously a furnishings shop, in September 1999 for $205,000. At the time of purchase it is believed that the local authority valuation was $250,000 i.e. $200,000 capital value and $50,000 land value. Whether the NZRL had independent valuation advice at the time is not known.

The NZRL later wrote off $620,000 of the payment as “goodwill.” Furthermore it is believed that NZRL then entered into a management agreement with Power Jaber Investments Ltd whereby they would manage the premises and retain the profits and pay NZRL a monthly rental. It is also believed that the agreement included a 5 year “put option” whereby NZRL could require Power Jaber Investments Ltd to purchase the premises back at a reducing value and provided for one of the Director’s of Power Jaber Investments Ltd to be employed as a Consultant to the All Golds Gaming Foundation Ltd.

At that time, the gaming machines in Eddy's Bar were initially owned and managed by the Community Grants Foundation and in the Sunday Star Times 28 May 2006 it was reported that the NZRL had received over $1.3M in gaming funds through that Trust in the 4 years 2000 to 2004.

The Rugby League Foundation was established in 2000 as a joint venture between the NZRL, NZ Warriors Ltd and Auckland Rugby League and evidence points to significant levels of gaming funding directed into the Foundation. In November 2003 the NZRL Board took the decision to cease the operations of the Foundation.(One could wonder why?)

In September 2000 the NZRL Board agreed to the purchase of the NRL licence from Tainui for $400,000 and the NZ Warriors Ltd was set up as a company that same month. The NZRL later sold the NRL licence to the new company for what is believed to be $1. Shortly after the sale took place the NRL distributed TV rights money owing and it is believed that $1M went to the new company.

Having purchased Eddy’s Bar, set up the Rugby League Foundation and purchased the the NRL licence from Tainui, the NZRL Board on 12 October 2000 approved the purchase of the business interest at Lower Hutt, known as RVR Bar, again from the Shareholders and Directors of Power Jaber Investments Ltd for $289,000. The RVR Bar was recorded as an investment in the NZRL audited accounts to 31 December 2000 at a value of $289,000. In the NZRL Annual General Meeting minutes dated 28 March 2003, the question was asked about the investment in the RVR Bar and why the entry had been shown in the 2000 accounts as an investment but not as an investment in the 2001 and 2002 accounts. The response given by the then Financial Controller of New Zealand Rugby League(and we know who he was) was that “the entry should never have been shown as an investment – it was a payment of ‘goodwill’ (goodwill for what?)which was to be written off over a period of time.”

At the same meeting on 12 October 2000, the NZRL Board approved the sale of 15% of their 25% shareholding in the newly formed NZ Warriors Ltd to a “Wellington Consortium” that in effect was the Shareholders and Directors of Power Jaber Investments Ltd. Evidence exists that a new company Power Jaber Investments (2000) Ltd was set up to purchase the RVR Bar and the 15% NZ Warriors shareholding. The existing Auckland Warriors Ltd was placed into receivership on 19 October 2000. The interesting point is that the Auckland Rugby League, by their accounts to 31 October 2000, lost $1.5 million as a result of this action. What is more intriguing is that the NZRL had an offer from a company the Yes Group before it at the meeting on 12 October 2000 that would have covered these losses.

Why would the NZRL not accept this offer which would have benefited both it and its major affiliated District League?

The gaming machines in RVR Bar were owned and managed by the New Zealand Community Trust and in the Sunday Star Times 28 May 2006 it was reported that the NZRL had received over $3M in gaming funds through that Trust in the 4 years 2000 to 2004.

In 1999 NZRL’s consolidated revenue income was $3.1 million with match revenue, sponsorship and other income accounting for $2.7 million or almost 89% of this revenue and “grants and donations” $353,000 for the other 11%. In 2000 consolidated revenue income had increased to $3.8 million with match revenue, sponsorship and other income at $2.7 million or 72% of this revenue and “grants and donations” accounting for just over $1 million or 28%. By mid 2001 (Sel Pearson appointed President of NZRL in March 2001) the $3 million plus of cash assets had been fully expended and the NZRL Board had declared an audited net deficit of $648,000 on its consolidated accounts for the year to 31 December 2001 having also declared consolidated deficits of $136,000 in the year to 31 December 1999 and $360,000 in the year to 31 December 2000.

Yet despite the expenditure of all the cash reserves and three years of net deficits totaling in excess of $1.14 million, the NZRL Board were still able to proceed, in partnership with the Auckland Rugby League and a private individual to purchase an interest in the following hotels in late 2002 through a joint venture Company Quidditch Holdings Limited set up for the purpose:
The Duke of Wellington Hotel form then NZRL Board member Selwyn Bennett (Sunday Star Times November 2002) - the NZRL are listed in their audited accounts to 31 December 2002 as having a 33.3% holding in the Hotel and Wholesale and 50% interest as Lessor. It is believed that the hotel was sold in 2006 for $950,000 a loss on the original capital investment of $450,000.

The Oak and Black Dog Hotel - the NZRL are listed in their audited accounts to 31 December 2002 as having a 12.5% holding in the Hotel. The purchase price is believed to be around $80,000.
In late 2002 the NZRL also purchased a stake in Rugby League House jointly with the NZRL.

Given the relatively small revenue base of NZRL at the time, NZRL accounts show that NZRL paid Power Jaber Investments Ltd a combined total of $909,000 (Eddy’s Bar $620,000 and RVR Bar $289,000) in “goodwill.” Why would it do this? The NZRL’s consolidated accounts to 31 December 2003 show consolidated revenue income as $5.7 million with match revenue, sponsorship and other income accounting for $1.8 million or 31% and “grants and donations” $3.9 million or 69%. A 58% increase in "grants and donations" since the purchase of the All Golds gaming Foundation, Eddy’s Bar in May 2000 and the RVR Bar in October 2000!

Could it be that the sale of the All Golds assets if this was in 2002, albeit at a possibly reduced value, provided the cash for the NZRL to proceed with the purchase of the Duke of Wellington and Oak and Black Dog and NZRL House?

So lets summarise just the financial write offs by previous NZRL Boards, in relation to the squawking now coming out of the mouths of people in one way or another tied to the above decisions:

All Golds Gaming Foundation Limited - $971,000 advanced in loans, say $500,000 for sale of assets.
Eddy's Bar - $620,000 written off as goodwill
RVR Bar - $289,000 written off as goodwill
NZ Warriors - purchase of NRL licence from Tainui $400,000 sold to NZ Warriors Ltd for $1.
NZ Warriors TV rights - at least $1M to NZ Warriors Ltd.
Duke of Wellington - purchased jointly for $1.3M believed to be sold for $950,000
Oak and Black Dog - purchased for $80,000 sold for ??

I seem to recall also that Andrew Chalmers was to the forefront of the push to get the NZRL out of the NZ Warriors Ltd and rumours were that the NZRL received as much as $500,000 at the time. Could it be that Andrew Chalmers in his own way is trying to clean the game up and to break the games reliance on gaming revenue hence the work he is doing in the UK?
Sure puts the latest debt into perspective folks. The old board is trying to put the blame on the present administration, while they slink off to there own little nest eggs.

All I will say is that I hope that the current NZRL Board will look into all of this at the same time that it analysis its current financial position.

So before anyone starts screaming for the heads of the Chairman now, hopefully you will look at these figures and see where this all began and why certain members of the RL Culture, want this hidden away....well to late Kiddies the cats well and truly comin outta the bag.

I hear the likes of Bennett and Campbell screaming about finances now, sh*t kiddies what was there excuse back then?

And before anyone says this is bullsh*t, point of fact most of this came off the public record,media, internet sites Companies Office etc, in other words all of these figures come out of the Public Domain, More to follow over the next few days.

There are some aspects of this current regime that I question, but I've maintained some faith believing that we've cut the deadwood and thrown out the rubbish. Let's just see how this pans out.

Skinner, is this related to Lange's report or later?

 

[Skinner]

No, this is later. Interesting reading though.....

I agree Mean, I do think those days are gone. For a start, they are too closely
audited in current times. Given the focus on pokie fraud etc, every sporting
body in this country is under close scrutiny and that goes right down to club
level.

There are very few from that particular time period left around, but, as it
says, Sel Pearson went on board in 2001 and is still around, although now
working for Auckland Rugby League. Bernie Wood is still around of course.
Most have moved on though

It's just a little unfortunate that the piece intimates that all of the money
went in a dodgy manner....and that is patently not true. National comps
such as Bartercard and the NJC were particularly financialy draining at times
when there was very little income.

That aside though, outside of the obvious dishonesty and outright corruption,
there was dreadful mis-management as well.

Onward and upward.

 

[Rich102]

Very interesting.
The NZRL's annual accounts are audited though. Who are the auditors?
This whole set-up needs a thorough, independant investigation.
Thanks for posting the above Mean.

 

[Skinner]

This whole set-up needs a thorough, independant investigation.

I agree with the sentiment Rich, but it's not going to happen.

It would be cost prohibitive, as well as the fact that, at least two Government agencies
have a raft of information on the saga, and have chosen not to act at this stage.

Several of the material witness' are now deceased as well.

It's now historical and maybe it's best to simply move forward in a postive way.

Not sure that the current mob are the right ones to do that, but that is something that
can be changed with the right will.

 

[mean]

There are very few from that particular time period left around, but, as it
says, Sel Pearson went on board in 2001 and is still around, although now
working for Auckland Rugby League. Bernie Wood is still around of course.
Most have moved on though

What's the tie with Sel Pearson and rugby league in NZ? The guy creates a position of CEO of NZRL for himself after he steps down from being the chairman, the current board relocates him to a broom closet whereby he quietly moves on and now he finds himself a position with the ARL.

I wanna know more about the interest free loan that was given to Allen Vaughan from the Slipp Inn (Lion Foundation contributor) by the ARL. Vaughan also happens to be a close associate of Pearson, who now owns a pub in Greenhithe and with managing rights to Slipp Inn. My suspicions are that a lot of back scratching went on with allocation of pokie funding to the ARL in response to a interest free loan returned to Vaughan.

It's about time these auditors starting looking at all the books and not the ones that are kept in order to produce at end of year.

 

[Skinner]

What's the tie with Sel Pearson and rugby league in NZ? The guy creates a position of CEO of NZRL for himself after he steps down from being the chairman, the current board relocates him to a broom closet whereby he quietly moves on and now he finds himself a position with the ARL.

I wanna know more about the interest free loan that was given to Allen Vaughan from the Slipp Inn (Lion Foundation contributor) by the ARL. Vaughan also happens to be a close associate of Pearson, who now owns a pub in Greenhithe and with managing rights to Slipp Inn. My suspicions are that a lot of back scratching went on with allocation of pokie funding to the ARL in response to a interest free loan returned to Vaughan.

It's about time these auditors starting looking at all the books and not the ones that are kept in order to produce at end of year.

Scupp was "a friend to the League" according to McGregor :lol: :lol:

 

[Skinner]

This is a (long) piece from the Sunday Star Times last year. It fits very well with Mean's
opening post. Ramesh, while obviously not the only figure involved, does seem to
crop up with some regularity!!

This is a story about three of our greatest passions - drinking, gambling and sport. A story that for the first time exposes the deep - and sometimes dubious - bonds that tie our $1b pokie industry to a powerful brotherhood of publicans and charitable trusts. TONY WALL investigates Dayal's bars were popular because they were clean and well-run and had food, free coffee and TABs.

Ramesh Dayal, a portly father of five from central Wellington, was an unlikely figure to be feted by rugby league bosses. Born in India, he and his brothers initially made money in the fruit and vege business, and later in transport. Hockey was their sport.

But Dayal moved into pubs in the early 90s and quickly became a powerful figure in New Zealand's billion dollar pokie industry.

Over about 15 years he and his three younger brothers, Suresh, Girish and Mukesh, and various other investors, built an empire of about 20 bars in the Wellington area, housing more than 200 poker machines that turned over phenomenal amounts of money.

Dayal, 63, became such a darling of rugby league bosses - because of his apparent ability to deliver the sport millions in gaming money - that he even became a part-owner of the Warriors and was made a director of the NRL side.

He was flown around the country and overseas on discounted flights obtained by the New Zealand Rugby League. Some years his travel bill would reach $30,000. He paid back the money at the end of each year.

Dayal's success story illustrates how some publicans and bar owners have made a fortune from New Zealanders' addiction to pokies.

From 1988, when poker machines were first licensed in New Zealand, until 2004, when a new Gambling Act was introduced to control their explosive growth - and supposedly stop what the Department of Internal Affairs alleges was rampant corruption within the industry - publicans held great power.

The formula for dispersing pokie money is relatively simple. At least one third has to go to the community. One third is taken by the government in taxes and levies. The rest is available for administration costs, and to pay pub and club operators "actual and reasonable" expenses.

Hundreds of sports clubs, RSAs and other chartered clubs have licences to operate small numbers of machines for their own benefit.

But the big money is controlled by a dozen or so large charitable trusts, which return money to a variety of community organisations.

They have hundreds of machines in pubs and clubs and are run like big businesses, employing accountants, consultants and administrators.

The set-up made for an incestuous relationship between publicans, the trusts, and the sporting organisations that reaped millions in grants.

They all needed each other. The trusts, which were often millions in debt from the purchase of poker machines, needed to ensure their machines were placed in popular bars, churning over cash to meet crippling repayments and keep the trust business growing.

For some publicans, income from the pokies was the difference between a successful business and a white elephant.

Often the venues were making next to nothing over the bar, but publicans with multiple sites could receive millions in payments from the trusts for their "actual and reasonable" expenses.

The big winners out of all of this were sports organisations and clubs with contacts on trusts or in the pub business. They quickly realised pokie money could be the difference between their sporting code surviving or dying.

While some established charities received peanuts in comparison, millions of dollars poured into the coffers of sports such as rugby and league.

The Gaming and Lotteries Act - a law introduced before poker machines existed in New Zealand - muddied the already murky waters. There would be constant amendments to licence conditions under the act.

The Department of Internal Affairs, which polices the industry, insists that under the act, publicans could make recommendations, but could not direct where gaming money went.
But Bernie Wood, who was an NZRL board member in 2000 when it negotiated an extraordinary commercial arrangement with Dayal, disputes that.

"Internal Affairs can be as precious as they want, " he says. "The fact is, that's not how it worked. In those days you had to go into a bar and ask the manager for a (grant application) form, and he'd endorse it to the trust. He'd say, `I'll get you the money, no problem'."

And the payback?

"The publican would say, `if you want $20,000 in poker machine money, come and have your function at my bar'," Wood says.

Other publicans, such as former league star Brent Todd, had contacts inside the sporting organisation - in Todd's case he received close to $1m from the North Harbour Rugby Union, allegedly paid on false invoices, in return for getting the union pokie money. The case is still with the Serious Fraud Office and Todd remains in Australia.

Auckland pub owners Wayne Porter and Peter Pharo were charged with offences after it was alleged that they had received half the pokie money meant for the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust as kickbacks disguised as advertising payments.
They were acquitted of those charges.

The Sunday Star-Times has heard of kickback arrangements, including false invoicing scams, secret payments to publicans' companies and even paper bags full of money changing hands.

Some publicans became so brazen they would demand huge up-front payments, as much as $200,000, from trusts before they would agree to work with them.

The government moved to crack down on kickbacks and backhanders with the passing of the Gambling Act, reinforcing the separation of publicans from the grant process.

But sources say the practice still goes on - the players have simply come up with new ways of working the system.

Kiwis love pokies. In the 2004-05 financial year, we spent $1.027 billion on pokies in pubs and clubs. Christchurch has the most machines of any territorial authority - 2099 or almost 10% of the country's total. Auckland City is second with 1749 machines or 8.32%.
Before the anti-smoking legislation, it was not unheard of for punters on marathon gambling sessions to pass out at their seats.

Dayal's bars were popular because they were clean and well-run and had food, free coffee and TABs. There were comfortable stools, air conditioning and extractor fans, helping punters to stay conscious.

Some bars were churning out $30,000 a week in pokie profits -$1.56m a year. Extrapolate that over 20 bars and it becomes obvious why

Dayal was a favourite of the industry.

The New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT), now one of the country's biggest, had machines in 13 Dayal Holdings bars, and had borrowed $10.5m from finance companies to purchase pokie machines. It was making $700,000 monthly repayments, including 17% interest.

If Dayal decided to go with another trust, the NZCT stood to lose 20% of its business and faced collapse.

The NZCT paid the Dayal organisation more than $3m between 2000 and 2002 alone.
At one point the trust feared Dayal Holdings was about to take its business elsewhere, so it started paying more in site rentals, paying the fees in advance each month, and paying an "administration fee" for each machine.

A Star-Times investigation has found that Dayal and his associated companies also benefited through what has been described as unusual commercial arrangements with rugby league, deals which on the face of it appeared to have no financial benefit to the league.

They involved the NZRL buying two of Dayal's bars for a generous price, continuing to let his company run them and keep all the profits, and also employing him as a consultant.
He also had the option of buying the bars back after five years, for $10 each.

After the deal was struck, millions of dollars in pokie money started flooding into the NZRL coffers.

A DIA investigation report obtained by the Star-Times is damning about the arrangement.
The Department of Internal Affairs is now proposing not to renew 14 Dayal Holdings gaming licences, and says its investigation is continuing.

Dayal's lawyer, Donald Stephens, QC, has described the DIA report as "deeply flawed" and says he will show that the investigators misunderstood the nature of the deals.

He says the NZRL got good value for money from the arrangement. At the end of five years it would retain almost the entire value of the contract because it would have the land and buildings, with an increased value through capital gain, the gaming machine operation and the value of the site gaming receipts.

He says Dayal was not involved in the grants process, only the day-to-day management of the pokie machines, and there was no evidence he had channelled gaming money.

The Dayals believe Internal Affiars has hounded them. In December 2002, Suresh Dayal was convicted of fraud after pleading guilty to using a gaming trust grant application to install in his Club Nouveau a $9562 video projector intended for the Kilbirnie Marist soccer club.

Suresh Dayal escaped a heavy sentence because of his "solid record of community service for disadvantaged people". He was ordered to pay $4000 toward the Serious Fraud Office prosecution.

Ramesh Dayal believes DIA investigators have been unfairly targeting him and his brother, partly because of their race. "It's personal victimisation," he says. "We're a hard working Kiwi family."

The NZRL approached Dayal about a deal in 2000. The sport had been through a tumultuous few years. In 1997, it was virtually insolvent; the following year, it was able to pay its debts and still have $3 million in the bank thanks to a payout by News Ltd after the collapse of Super League.

League found it was increasingly relying on pokie money to run the game. In 1999, grants and donations totalled $353,000 of the league's operating revenue of $3.1m. By 2004 that had grown to $3.6m of $7.8m total revenue.

In that five-year period the NZRL received $12.6m in grants, making as much from pokie money as it did from match receipts.

That apparently rosy financial picture hid the fact that the NZRL made some unfortunate investment decisions, motivated by its desire to secure pokie money.

This involved buying pubs and trying to set up its own gaming trust -the All Golds Foundation - which ended in abject failure after only two years when Internal Affairs effectively shut it down for not meeting its requirement under law to return 33% of proceeds to the community.

Largely because of its pubs and gaming machine investments, the NZRL blew its Super League windfall and by the end of 2001, had a deficit of $387,000. It is only just recovering from other disastrous forays into the pub business, including losing a $250,000 investment in Todd's pub company when he went bankrupt. Today it has a $470,000 operating surplus.

The approach to Dayal was made by Gary Allcock, a police officer who was on a two-year leave of absence to work as the NZRL's chief executive. He is now back in a senior role with the police. The board chairman at the time was Auckland lawyer Gerald Ryan.

The deals that followed were referred to mysteriously but rather aptly in NZRL minutes as The Coin Project.

The NZRL financial report for 2001 spells out the league's expectations in plain language: "Ramesh Dayal is of the understanding that the agreement with regard to the value of grant applications that we are able to make to his bars is $700,000 in the first year and $250,000 per site (total $500,000) per annum after that. Also, Ramesh has said he will likely allow us to apply for more than was agreed."

The language - that Dayal would "allow" the NZRL to apply, surprised investigators. Although grant forms could be picked up from pubs, publicans were not supposed to be directly involved in the grant process.

The current NZRL chairman, Selwyn Pearson, wrote to Dayal in 2000 saying he was "thrilled with the deal" and that "we can opt out at any time but I wouldn't even consider it because it is so good for NZRL".

Certainly the cash began flowing in through the two trusts the Dayal bars were linked to. One of the bars, Eddy's in Wainuiomata, was linked to a trust called the Community Grants Foundation. That trust gave the NZRL and its subsidiaries $1.13m in grants between 2000 and 2004.

The other bar, RVR in Lower Hutt, was linked to the NZCT. It gave the Rugby League $3.1m in grants during the same period. The trusts deny any involvement by Dayal in the grant process. The NZRL minutes show that the structure of the deals was approved by Internal Affairs. Its gaming compliance manager at the time, Warwick Hodder, who is now a compliance consultant with the Community Grants Foundation (now known as the Trusts Charitable Foundation), says he was aware of the Dayal deals. But he says he was not consulted beforehand about the structure.

The deals also raised eyebrows within league circles. Rodney Moore, former acting chairman of Wellington Rugby League (WRL), wrote to Sport and Recreation NZ, raising concerns about the huge amounts of gaming money from the Wellington area being sent to NZRL headquarters in Auckland, bypassing the local game.

The WRL's attempts to get money from Eddy's bar met ran into a brick wall.
Moore wrote: "The WRL applied for the equivalent of a full time salary for the coaching and development co-ordinator position through Eddy's Bar in Wainuiomata, a hotel the NZRL owns shares in, in October, 2002.

"No response was received after one month, prompting an email follow-up to the Community Grants Foundation Trust, who distribute the funds.

"No reply was received to that email, prompting a further follow-up email one week later, only to learn that the trust had only received the application that day. Our application was turned down."

A small core of lifetime league fans and former administrators is continuing to pressure the NZRL for answers about the Dayal deals.

Dayal says he and his company, Power Jaber Ltd, did not make huge amounts of money on the Eddy's and RVR bar deals. They had spent more than $600,000 renovating Eddy's before selling it to the league.

And he says the 15% Warriors shareholding, bought for $400,000, has returned nothing. Last year he had to put another $90,000 into the struggling club.

Dayal gave the NZRL a "general forecast" of how much pokie money they could expect, but says that was standard practice.

"Rugby league came to us and said, `how much can we expect?' We said there are no guarantees, but you can expect `x' amount based on how much the machines turn over."
Dayal wishes he'd never met Allcock and his league bosses. "Since (Internal Affairs) started its investigation I've been through four years of stress. They've put me through hell."

 

[mean]

What year was Gary Alcock the CEO of NZRL?

 

[Skinner]

What year was Gary Alcock the CEO of NZRL?

'99 I think.

It always bothered me, the way he went so quickly.

 

[mean]

'99 I think.

It always bothered me, the way he went so quickly.

....to now be in charge of recruiting men and women in blue!

 

[Micistm]

Nice post, and while I agree the current regime cannot take full responsibilty for the shocking **** the NZRL is in, it's still yet more in a long line of people that just don't know how to run a business properly, competantly, even dare I say it honestly.
I've said for a long time the powers that be in NZRL needs a total clean out, it's just continued to be run in a bad way.
Less mates, more professionals. Nothing will change until then. They'll be the standard rhetoric about investigations and changes for a few weeks until it dies down and then business as usual.
"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got."

 

[mean]

What's the tie with Sel Pearson and rugby league in NZ? The guy creates a position of CEO of NZRL for himself after he steps down from being the chairman, the current board relocates him to a broom closet whereby he quietly moves on and now he finds himself a position with the ARL.

I wanna know more about the interest free loan that was given to Allen Vaughan from the Slipp Inn (Lion Foundation contributor) by the ARL. Vaughan also happens to be a close associate of Pearson, who now owns a pub in Greenhithe and with managing rights to Slipp Inn. My suspicions are that a lot of back scratching went on with allocation of pokie funding to the ARL in response to a interest free loan returned to Vaughan.

It's about time these auditors starting looking at all the books and not the ones that are kept in order to produce at end of year.

Just been looking at the NZRL's 2002 Annual Financial Statement. It was good of Sel Pearson to advance Allen Vaughan aka Scupp a $50,000 loan.

If anyone's interested to know why NZRL is in a position of misery, take a look at the NZ companies register and have a look at the financial statements. Even the auditors "We have not obtained all the information and explanations that we have required. We were unable to determine whether proper accounting records have been kept."

The previous information is confirmed in the financial statements. Someone needs to be held accountable and exposed for the scum that they are. Rugby is not our worst enemy, the enemy is within.:x

 

[ozbash]

We were unable to determine whether proper accounting records have been kept."


anybody know someone in the Serious Fraud Office ?

 

[shiznit]

i still think chalmers should go..... regardless of the accounts.... his media outbursts have been shamefull. hes the most disgracefull chairman i have ever seen....

is butch available to take over??? hes a no-nonsense bloke whos also a very sucsessfull buisnessman. he also loves the game of RL...

 

[Skinner]

We were unable to determine whether proper accounting records have been kept."


anybody know someone in the Serious Fraud Office ?

They've been there, done that, and done diddly squat....

 

[ozbash]

http://www.rugbyleaguenz.com/forum.php?Page_ID=37&Thread_ID=1714&Main_ID=1


cheers carl.

dont tell willow or skinner ...

 

[ozbash]

The NZRL will hold an emergency board meeting today to discover its own financial situation, and newly-installed chairman Ray Haffenden admits his knowledge of the bottom line was limited to what he had read in newspapers.

The directors convene again after a near-nine hour meeting on Friday and will call on financial reports from league general manager Peter Cordtz and financial controller Alex Hayton in an effort to find out exactly how deeply in debt they are. Suggestions range from $500,000 to $1.8m but one board member told the Star-Times "it's definitely not pretty".

However, the final figure is understood to be the less sensational $650,000 after the record profit on the Kiwi tour and the league had budgeted to lose $600,000 anyway.

It is understood board members are keen to instigate a full financial audit of the league, which could date back several years.

That would encompass not just the reign of Andrew Chalmers, who quit as chairman on Friday morning, but also his predecessors Selwyn Pearson and Selwyn Bennett, and include the league's dealings with charitable trusts and pub purchases.
Chalmers resigned at the very start of Friday's board meeting, before rebel directors could hold a vote to depose him

He shook each board member by the hand before telling them his family had suffered severe stress because of his role. He would have had the numbers to survive a challenge led by Haffenden and Vince Weir, with vice-chairman Phil Campbell and director Neville Kesha despite heavy pressure reportedly staying loyal.

But the rebels had anticipated Chalmers might depart, knowing the dynamic but often-controversial chairman had little interest in any prospect of being merely an ordinary board member. Those close to him have lately felt he was losing his appetite for the constant battles and the league's never-healthy finances. The rebels had, bizarrely, hoped he would retain his board seat.

But then came a complete surprise when the meeting adjourned to debate Chalmers' resignation, the three independent directors (financial industry veteran Eddie Mathews, Solid Energy executive Simon Doig and former Olympian Glenda Hughes) all then decided to table their own resignations.

Contrary to an official NZRL media release, which claimed they had quit to "enable the remaining elected directors to set the platform for the game's future" they resigned because they considered the game to be in complete disarray and was not being run professionally.

Sources said Doig and Hughes spoke passionately about the game's future before quitting.

Haffenden promised a swift answer on the game's finances, saying: "We left the finances out of the meeting [on Friday] to totally focus on them [today]."

He declined to say if they would have pushed for a vote if Chalmers had not fallen on his sword, and also declined to comment on the independent directors' criticisms. However, the board is known to be angry that they had chosen such an inopportune moment to quit.

One likely prospect for the league is to flog off their remaining underperforming pub assets, including Eddie's Bar in Wainuiomata.

Haffenden refused to criticise Chalmers, but in an apparent comparison to his predecessor's direct style, noted: "I won't do anything without the agreement of the board, we are going to work as a board and again if I decide to do something I will be asking their advice, particularly in the early stages."

Chalmers, meanwhile, last night declined to comment.

Haffenden said he would not be an interim chairman, saying: "I am here as long as the game wants me to."

One worry could be reported concerns of government over league's rapid changes in leadership.

Last night, Nick Hill, chief executive of government funding agency Sparc, said: "It would be wrong to say we were concerned.

"Our position has always been that the game needs to get its act together to be attractive to New Zealanders and at times has been its own worst enemy. In the last year, Andrew Chalmers has put in place some positive measures we were supportive of. We would look forward to working with the new board to ensure progress is made."

After describing Friday as "hectic and emotional", Haffenden expressed the wish that "everything might settle down, that's my hope and the intention."

That's rarely the case in the turbulent world of rugby league.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4305238a1823.html

 

[Skinner]

Is it just me or is this "Archangel" simply being a keyboard hero.

He's found nothing that the DIA and the SFO don't already have.

He just seems to be a disgruntled ex Welly Board member who is laying the
slipper into Auckland.

I could be wrong, but I strongly suspect his motives.

 

[mean]

From what I've read, he may have been accused of something that the DIA or SFO were not able to successfully achieve an outcome for. I thinks he's seeking retribution against Sel P for orchestrating the investigation. And from what I've read or interpreted from the financial reports for the past 6 years of the NZRL and ARL, there's been some inappropriate mismanagement of revenue.

Andrew Chalmers has got nothing on the past and present regimes of both organisations. Bringing $1million dollars of jersey sponsorship for the next 3 years is legitimate compared to spending $3million odd dollars on pubs, backhanders, interest free loans, mystery companies.

I'm just wondering why more people are not vocal in criticism of the NZRL and ARL for what they've done over the past few years when they've spent millions compared to someone who's tried to sort out the mess he was left with and has attempted to put in contingencies to prevent situations like those to continue?

 

[Archangel2]

Wandered onto this site a while back while one night aimlessly blogging, have watched it with interest for a wee bit of time now, some good stuff here!
Anyways read with interest that someone had posted one of my tomes on the state of the game and the state of the people who administer it...
then yesterday I read this latest posting by Skinner, so I thought that I would answer some of his questions/statements so he gets some piece of mind....

Q Is it just me or is this "Archangel" simply being a keyboard hero.
A No Skinner its just you, and what is a keyboard hero? And yes most others agree someting stinks of fish coming out of NZRL.
QHe's found nothing that the DIA and the SFO don't already have.
A We wait and will see on that score just what we have, however, heres another way at looking at it Skinner, if say its not wrong. BUT it is damaging the game outside of Auckland, and in no way helping the sport, do you Skinner think that makes it alright?
I ask you does buying bars in other districts and then siphoning the money out of those areas, for some other purpose. And so leaves other local RL Districts left with no where to go for grants, to buy basics like Sports-gear equipment, then thats alright too?
Q He just seems to be a disgruntled ex Welly Board member who is laying the
slipper into Auckland.
A Right on first count wrong on second not Auckland or ARL just certain A-wipes inside.
Q I could be wrong, but I strongly suspect his motives.
A Your wrong, and after reading your posts on this site I guess I could say the same Skinner....what exactly are your motives, it would seem to a casual observer that you are an apoligist for the boys at the top...But as you say I could be wrong.

But of getting too negative here instead is another a post from another Wellington person, take a read of the democracy of our great game in action...this is what we have to deal with all the time....the guy is talking to...well obviously someone in Taranaki who is sick of NZRL as well.

Naki listen to Ray Haffenden's interview with Murray Deaker on Newstalk ZB at about 3.10pm last Saturday. NZRL's priorities are Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury at one level and once they are right then they will look at other Districts.

As I see it under the current NZRL model, the role of the Taranaki District League is quite simple. You are to:

1.recruit players to run a club competition and to feed players into a Zonal Under 16 and Under 18 competition team. If they are lucky you might get some rep games at the end of the season. That way the best players can be siphoned off to Auckland where they have the NZ Warriors playing in the NRL, the AK Lions playing in the Sydney Cup competition, now they will have the NZ Warriors with a under 20 team in the NRL Toyota Cup competition and because of the demise of our national competition they will have everybody back playing in their beloved Fox Memorial competition.

2. You are not to question the NZRL's finances let alone the Auckland Rugby League's finances. That's a no, no - "trust us we know what we're doing" - like hell they do, we are all members of the NZRL and its our money just as much as theres we have a Constitutional right to know. Start asking, the good thing about this forum is that it has provided an opportunity for people to have their say about what is going on.

3. Once you have got your teams in place, when Sel P comes knocking with the very attractive SAS offer for clothing you have to take that to support the Auckland machine. You see Mr Connolly the Managing Director of SAS Clothing who is suing the NZRL for $3M has also been involved in the sale and purchase of pubs with the Auckland Rugby League - Playaz Bar ($1.2M) through the VTM Trust. You can guess who the ex NZRL Board members are likely to be who are going to stand up in court and support him.

4. When Taranaki finally summon up the courage to propose some rule changes to create a level playing field you will find that you need a 75% majority to change the rules but Auckland, with the help of the Associates (now who actually runs them - that's right AK RL Board members or people closely associated with the AK RL!) and one other District can veto any rule change.

Naki, in light of the story that is emerging relating to the events leading to Andrew Chalmers resignation and the people involved in that plus the way the issue around finances is being handled then you have to begin to question whether the current Board are not just a continuation of past regimes. Its time for a change. Let the Aucks run themselves and form a body to run the game in the rest of the country. Get that body right away from Auckland so that it can focus on the issues that all District Leagues outside Auckland face. The game will take off then.

We dont have an issue with the grassroots of Auckland Rugby League never have never will(well unless we are playing you(LOL), however we have a real problem with a regime running our game into the ground outside of Auckland who dont care what happens to the game outside there little empire. All we want is the right to self-determination and the ability to source funds on behalf of our game in the provinces...not be patronised by a group of dodgy Administrators that are so far nearly brought the game to a end in Wellington...we found vast amounts of money being siphoned off to NZRL FACT!
When asked the chose not to answer us, we provide Pie Charts showing that the money was being taken out of Welly, still no answer, we mentioned DIA. We got the answer, Sel said, "Dont worry we will have it sorted by the end of the week, it was! they dobbed us in to DIA blamed us for the cash crisis, stole our accounts from us, then put us into review.
Why to give themselves a bit of time to try and dodge the bullets headfing there way.
From Welly we watched as the Board members went Keith Pitman Yellow ribbon, became a witness for the crown. Should I continue? So now our game after a 5 year hiatus is back in our own hands, but I never want to see it happen again! So I will continue being as you put it, a 'Keyboard hero' Excelsior!