CBC News
John Davy, once a top man in New Zealand TV before finding himself in jail, is back in Canada as a free man.
He was deported from New Zealand earlier this week after serving half of a six-month sentence for using a falsified work record to win the post of chief executive of the Maori Television Service.
Davy, 51, fabricated a degree in business management and accounting and lied about working for the British Columbia Securities Commission.
But Davy’s much-publicized demise in New Zealand had its roots in Canada.
Among his business ventures a few years back, Davy did the accounting for an umpires’ association and other groups in Whistler, B.C., where money disappeared.
Davy was convicted of fraud over his own tax returns. He moved on to Saudi Arabia, where he got into money trouble with another company and was eventually fired.
In New Zealand, the stakes got bigger as did his web of deceit.
Davy somehow talked his way into a high-paying job as the boss of Maori Television Service. At the time he said he had taken the job “to make a difference to the Maori culture and language.”
Journalists were skeptical and found that his academic record was a phoney. Davy then claimed he’d been in a witness protection program. He said because of that his background had been “adjusted.”
New Zealanders were indignant. He was charged, convicted and sent to prison for fraud. He served three months and then was shipped back to Canada.
Davy isn’t so much remorseful as bitter that he had to spend time in jail. “If they were to put in jail everybody that lied on their CV, how crowded we would be… I’ve paid my debt,” he said.
However Davy’s troubles may not be all in the past.
Documents show he still owes Revenue Canada thousands of dollars and that a collection agency is interested in Davy’s unpaid fines.
