THEFT OF £l500

Hokitika Guardian, 7 September 1932, Page 6

THEFT OF £lsoo

MAOiRI CHIEF’S GREAT LAPSE,

PROPERTY-OF NATIVE TRUST.

(Per Press Associaiionr— Copyright.)

WELLINGTON, Sep. 7

Wart tana Renata Ngahana, aged 37, nephew of the late Heu Heu Tukino, chief of -the Ngati Tuwliaretoa tribe, pleaded guilty before Mr Page, 'S.M., to the -theft, las a seirvant,of £1,463 4s od from the Native Trust. He was stated t 6 be a member of the paramount chiefs of New Zealand, and to have very considerable .interests ;in lands in the Tekano distict. Counsel intiWted that he might later be in the position to make certain offers of restitution to the Crown. * An officer of the department, giving evidence, said that accused had given ©very possible assistance in facing the ■misappropriation, which had extended from September 1925, to July of this year, and, but for, his assistance', it would have been very difficult to have .discovered the thefts, , and some might never have been discovered. ', • A detective produced a statement in which accused .said that he did not drink-or gamble. He‘had spent the money in meeting his ordinary living ‘expenses, and entertaining his numerous;, Maori friends when they came to Wellington.. • ■ j ,riHe was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence, bail being allowed at £IOOO.