In a text message to Little, Police Inspector Dean Silvester said Chung had turned up at the Karori search area and spread misinformation, had inappropriate contact with emergency services, and inappropriate contact with the missing persons family.
Ray Chung called police’s claims “far fetched” and maintains he did nothing wrong. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Chung has yet to comment to the Herald on the latest development in the saga.
In a response to The Post, he disputed Silvester’s claims.
“Silvester said I didn’t identify myself as a councillor, how far-fetched is that? If I didn’t, then why would Steve tell me what he was doing and spend so long on these calls?,” Chung said.
In a statement, Wellington District Commander Penelope Gifford said: “claims made by the Councillor about a senior officer’s actions are completely false, unwarranted and have unfairly dragged the officer’s integrity into question.”
“I am happy to meet with Cr Chung so he can discuss his concerns directly with me, but I will be making it very clear that the officer involved has my full trust and confidence as I know him to operate with the highest level of integrity,” Gifford said.
“Never at any stage has a member of my staff been less than truthful with him.”
In a post on Facebook, Chung said all he did was “help constituents who were desperate,” and accused media of incorrectly reporting he was searching.
In May, Chung said he may have misspoken when he told the Herald that day he was there to search for the man.
“No, I wasn’t searching, I was out there, maybe I was thinking I was out there with the search or to look for the searchers, but no.
“I’m scared of the water and so there’s no way I was going to get into any water,” he said.
Documents released by the council about the incident last week reveal Little planned to sack Chung over the scandal, before he ultimately resigned.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.