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former Whistler local disgraced down under

John Davy fired from Maori language TV station over resume fabrications For a few short weeks a former Whistler accountant had made it big in New Zealand.

John Davy fired from Maori language TV station over resume fabrications

For a few short weeks a former Whistler accountant had made it big in New Zealand.

After less than a year of arriving in the country, he had been hired as the Chief Executive Officer to head up a new television network - Maori Television Service - in the island nation, with a salary of roughly $125,000 a year.

He had come a long way from his Canadian life where he had to declare bankruptcy twice in the span of 13 years.

But Davy's checkered past, which dates back to his time in Whistler in the early nineties, finally caught up with him this week, exposing him internationally as an alleged phony and fraud.

Davy declined an interview with Pique Newsmagazine via email this week due to "extenuating circumstances."

"I will enlighten you on the issues here another time," he wrote.

"However, because of the rampant racism here you should not believe anything you hear."

Davy is referring to racism against the Maori people and anyone who helps them.

The MTS was created in part by the New Zealand government to promote Maori culture. The future of that station, which has yet to air, now hangs in the balance.

But as more news from the investigation surfaces, Davy's alleged web of deceit seems to get more and more fantastic.

His six-week career with the MTS ended after an investigation into his resume, spearheaded by the New Zealand Herald , revealed a past that just didn't add up.

This past includes Davy’s claim he authored two books, is a masters graduate, a Canadian national fencing champion, and NHL referee. He also claimed to have an extensive international employment history which, cannot be verified.

The newspaper’s investigation began with a look into Davy's MBA degree from the Ashland School of Business at Denver State University. There is no record of Davy at the university and the Ashland School of Business cannot be found said the paper.

Yet, a MBA certificate can be bought over the Internet from a school with the same name.

Davy was fired Monday when he could not prove that he had not bought his MBA degree over the Internet.

Although his resume has him working in London, Paris, Geneva and Vancouver from 1988 to 1998, Davy was working in a one-room operation from a rented Alta Vista home during throughout the early to mid-nineties, according to local sources.

A local accountant who took over some of Davy's Whistler clients said he does not believe Davy has the proper qualifications to prepare financial statements.

"I've seen copies of financial statements that John has prepared," said Robie Thorn, an accountant with McMillan Thorn.

"To my knowledge John didn't have a recognizable professional designation. Some of the work that was done did not meet professional standards."

Thorn said there is no doubt in his mind that there are people in town who have been financially damaged by Davy's incompetence and lack of knowledge of Canadian accounting.

The investigation also discovered that Davy filed for bankruptcy twice in Canada, once in Ottawa 1980 and again in Whistler 1993.

At that time he owed a total of $65,880 with total assets worth $4500, according to a Globe and Mail search of records at the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. But beyond the accounting realm, Thorn also knew Davy on the ice - both were hockey referees in town.

"He did tend to be a little more confrontational than what we'd like to see," said Thorn.

Davy also claimed to be a NHL referee on the website www.hockeynightinasia.com. His picture was removed from the site earlier this week.

When Davy left Whistler around 1995 to 1996, he may have left some unfinished business behind.

"He is a person of interest to the Credit Union," said John Nadeau, manager of the North Shore Credit Union.

Davy defended himself on New Zealand TV this week saying his past records had been altered under a witness-protection program.

"I cannot verify any academic background simply for the reason that that in the 1980s an assignment was undertaken by me that related to a forensic matter, and as part of a ... witness-protection program, my background was adjusted," said Davy, reported in Canadian Press .

"My name wasn't fully changed but my financial and academics (background) were wiped out."

The RCMP could not confirm this information.

"We administer the Witness Protection Program but we do not discuss or divulge any information whatsoever about the program," said Grant Learned, media spokesperson for the RCMP Headquarters in Vancouver.

"Nor do we confirm of deny anyone who makes allegations about it. It's stipulated right there in the Act."

The news has brought Whistler under the spotlight once again, not as a place for great skiing and snow, but rather as a short-time haven for con artists and imposters.

Last May the RCMP arrested Christopher Rocancourt and his wife on Vancouver Island after they spent about four to six weeks living the high-life in Whistler.

Rocancourt, who was going by the name of Michael VanHoven and pretending to be a professional driver for Ferrari at the time, was wanted on four continents for allegedly swindling people out of millions of dollars.

Another imposter, Steven Iwami, was a fugitive from the U.S. who lived for years in Whistler under an assumed name.

Iwami was better known as Steven Tanaka around town.

He might have been the Whistler Secondary girls basketball coach but he was also wanted south of the border for an outstanding warrant for trafficking cocaine 30 years ago in Chicago.

The New Zealand government is considering a police investigation into the John Davy affair.

"I do have people in my defense," Davy wrote via email.

Davy is living in Auckland with his wife and two children at the moment.

With files from Clare Ogilvie