A letter threatening legal action if convicted fraudster Michael Swann was not given a favourable parole outcome is ''outrageous'', and could harm his chance of an early release, a criminologist warns.
A parole hearing for Swann has been delayed after one of his supporters wrote a letter threatening legal action if he did not receive a favourable outcome from the New Zealand Parole Board.
Swann was sentenced in the High Court at Dunedin in March 2009 to nine and a-half years' jail with a minimum non-parole period of four years and six months, after being found guilty of defrauding the Otago District Health Board of $16,902,000.
A letter threatening legal action, from an unnamed sponsor of Swann, who was at the May 14 hearing, has shocked sociology professor Greg Newbold, of the University of Canterbury.
''I think it is absolutely outrageous. It is the height, the absolute epitome, of arrogance,'' he said.
''This is the sort of thing that you would expect to happen in China or a totalitarian system.''
Yesterday, the Parole Board declined to release the letter or answer further questions about its content.
The board's decision after Swann's appearance at the hearing in an undisclosed prison notes the letter ''contains a threat to take and fund judicial review proceedings if Mr Swann does not receive an outcome favourable to him''.
The parole hearing was convened by Judge Michael Crosbie. The decision noted the content of the letter, written to the board since the hearing, ''raises issues of risk for the board''.
In that letter, Swann's supporter is alleged to object to any level of independent inquiry or analysis by the board, in regards to risk.
Prof Newbold told the Otago Daily Times: ''I have never ever seen anything like this. I wouldn't dream that anyone could be so stupid''.
The move by Swann's principal sponsor, who is offering work and accommodation on his release, was likely to be counterproductive.
''This is the dumbest, most arrogant thing you can ever do, given Swann's crime.
''This letter will screw Swann's chance of an early release.''
However, there was nothing stopping the sponsor from taking legal action. However, as the board had ''absolute authority, you don't go around threatening Superman. That is what it is''.
Swann would be wise to distance himself from the sponsor and the letter, but Prof Newbold cautioned the board could not be seen as denying him a release because they were ''pissed off''.
The board considered it had no option but to defer Swann's parole hearing until the next meeting at the prison, but with an entirely different panel.
