Kenny still advising on Cooks stamps

Press, 16 April 1979, Page 4

Kenny still advising on Cooks stamps

NZPA Washington The American businessman, Mr Finbar Kenny, whose extradition is sought by the Cook Islands on a conspiracy charge, is still advising the Cook Islands Philatelic Bureau, he has disclosed. Funds from the bureau are said to have been used improperly to fly Cook Islanders from New Zealand to Rarotonga to vote in last year's election. Financing of the airlift led to the conspiracy charge against Mr Kenny, the former Premier (Sir Albert Henry) and others. In spite of the case, Mr Kenny, of New York, retains his links with the bureau, providing it' with technical advice on stamps and forecasts about trends in the international stamp market.

Asked by the NZPA in a telephone interview why he had not severed his links with the bureau in the face of a serious charge and controversy, Mr Kenny replied: "I don't know. J really don’t,” adding “It’s an absurd situation.

“I wanted out but I have had friendly letters from Tom Davis (Dr Davis the present Premier) and I just stayed on.

“I suppose I did i not want to see the bureau fail and a lot of nice people lose their jobs, Mr Kenny said. Documents seeking the extradition are reported to be on the way to the New Zealand Embassy in Washington from Wellington. They will be handed on to the State Department, because extradition cases between the United States and foreign nations are handled through diplomatic channels. The State Department then sends the documents to the Justice Department j for action. Sales of Cook Islands stamps, an important source of foreign currency, have shrunk dramatically in recent months, “contaminated” Mr Kenny believes, by events in the Cook Islands in the last I year. When Mr Kenny became ' involved with the bureau I in 1966. aggregate stamps ! .sales for the previous I three years were $9OOO. ; By 1977 it was clearing ( SI.2M a year, according to Mr Kenny. But sales began slipping last year and profits fell , to between $600,000 and $700,000 Mr Kenny said. He predicts profits will fall further to $200,000 or less, this year.